1 1 }  I  Mi  1 1 ' 

I 


BERNARD  VAUGH 


J 


WHAT  OF  TO-DAY? 


BY  THE  SAME  AUTHOR 

THE  SINS  OF  SOCIETY 

THE   MATCHLESS   MAID    OF 
FRANCE 

SOCIETY    SIN    AND    OUR 
SAVIOUR 

SOCIALISM   FROM   THE 
CHRISTIAN  STANDPOINT 

Etc. 


Photograph  by  P.  MacDonald,  New  York. 

FATHER  BERNARD  VAUGHAN,  S.J. 


What  of  To-Day? 


BY 

FATHER    BERNARD    VAUGHAN,     S.J. 


' '  The  highest  Faith  makes  still  the  highest  man  ; 
For  we  grow  like  the  things  our  souls  believe, 
And  rise  or  sink  as  we  aim  high  or  low." 


NEW    YORK 

McBRIDE,    NAST   AND   COMPANY 
1915 

'i  1 


I 


A  Sa  Majeste 

ALBERT  LE  GRAND 
ROI 

des  Braves  Beiges 

par  son  humble  et  son  obeissant  servitcur 
BERNARD  VAUGHAN,   S.J. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

1.  THE  NEW  SPIRIT      .       .       .       .      '..      .       i 

2.  THE  WAR  AND  THE  EMPIRE  ....       5 

3.  THE  REAL  SUPERMAN  : 

I.  His  "Kultur"        .        .        .        .        .      13 
II.  His  Creed       .        .        .        .      f  .        .      20 

4.  GOOD  OUT  OF  EVIL 27 

5.  WAR  AND  RELIGION        .       .       .       .       .33 

6.  "A  SCRAP  OF  PAPER"    ...       .       .      41 

7.  THE  RED  CROSS "  •     .      50 

8.  SOWN  IN  TEARS 58 

9.  PLAY  THE  GAME .65 

10.  RUN  FOR  YOUR  LIFE       .       .  .  .  .  72 

11.  THE  WEAPON  OF  PRAYER       .  .  '  .  *  83 

12.  ANOTHER  WAR  TO  WAGE    ;V  ,:>  ;  ,'J  .  98 

13.  "THERE  is  NO  SIN!"      .    r  1  '  .  '.'  .  109 

14.  "SOME  SORT  OF  RELIGION"  .  .  :.  '  .  116 

15.  A  TRIPLE  ALLIANCE       v       .-  .  .  .  123 


viii  Contents 

PAGE 

1 6.  SATANIC  SPIRITISM 132 

I.  The  Fraudulent 133 

II.  The  Frivolous 140 

III.  The  Fiendish          .        .        .        .        .149 

IV.  Cui  Bono  ? 157 

17.  THE  SPIRIT  OF  COMPROMISE  .        .       .       .166 

1 8.  Is  ENGLAND  CHRISTIAN? 

I.  The  Mind  of  England    .        .        .        .174 
II.  The  Heart  of  England  .        .        .        .180 

III.  The  Will  of  England     .  .  .  .185 

IV.  The  Character  of  England  .  .  .191 

19.  SOCIALISM  AND  CHRISTIANITY  .  .  .199 

20.  WHO  WANTS  RELIGION  ? 

I.  Topsy-Turvyism 207 

II.  Current  Cant 214 

III.  Spiritual  Snacks 220 

21.  "THE  SIMPLE  LIFE  FOR  ME"        .       .       .  228 

22.  MARRIAGE  : 

I.  Wedded  Love 235 

II.  Husband  and  Wife         ....    240 

III.  Divorce  Made  Easy       ....    249 

IV.  Race  Suicide 255 

23.  THE  SERVANT  PROBLEM         .       .       .       .262 


Contents  ix 


FACE 


24.  "DIVINE  DISCONTENT"   .       .       .       .       .    269 

25.  THE  WOMAN  MOVEMENT  : 

I.  The  Sex  War 275 

II.  Lust  and  Licence 283 

26.  "  REDEEM  THE  TIME  " 289 

27.  THE  SELF-CENTRED  LIFE        ....    299 

28.  THE  ARRIVAL  OF  DEMOCRACY       .       .       .    305 

29.  SOCIAL  REFORM  AND  INDIVIDUAL  REFORM    312 

30.  THE  SWEATING  CURSE    .        .        .      • .       .318 

31.  CAPITAL  AND  LABOUR 325 

32.  MODERN  IDEALS  : 

I.  Reversion  to  Paganism  .        .        .        -334 
II.  "Making  a  Success"      ....     339 

33.  THE  USES  OF  ADVERTISEMENT      .       .       .    346 

34.  THE  FETISH  OF  SPORT 355 

35.  "Tnou  FOOL" .363 

36.  A  MESSAGE  FROM  BETHLEHEM      .       .       .371 

37.  "  WATCHMAN,  WHAT  OF  THE  NIGHT  ?  "       .    379 

38.  THE  OLD  SPIRIT 386 


NIHIL  OBSTAT 

J.   N.   STRASSMAIER,  S.J., 

CENSOR  DEPUTATUS. 

IMPRIMATUR 

EDM  :  CANONICUS  SURMONT,  D.D., 

VICARIUS  GENERALIS. 


WESTMONASTERII, 

die  7  Novembris,  1914. 


PREFACE 

DURING  the  present  crisis  of  our  history  it  is  the 
business  of  every  citizen  to  find  out  how  he  may 
best  serve  his  country.  If  held  back  by  age  or 
duty  from  joining  the  colours  he  must  cast  about 
to  see  what  he  can  do  at  home.  There  is  work 
enough  to  go  round ;  no  one  need  drop  out  and 
join  the  army  of  the  unemployed.  As  a  matter 
of  fact  every  section  of  the  community  has  its 
loins  girt  and  its  lamp  trimmed  and  is  eagerly 
asking:  "  How  can  I  help?"  "  What  can  I  do?" 
Social,  political,  religious  barriers  have  been 
swept  aside  with  the  incoming  tide  of  true 
Christian  Democracy. 

Never  was  there  a  closer  union  among  the  so- 
called  classes  and  masses,  never  a  more  kindly  or 
a  more  genial  relationship  between  them ;  never 
was  a  finer  spirit  of  the  social  sense,  or  a  stronger 
proof  of  Christian  self-sacrifice  astir  in  our  midst. 

Having  done  my  small  part  in  helping  men 
"to  sign  on,"  and  in  appealing  for  the  public 
support  of  a  bi-weekly  Flemish  paper  to  reach 
those  of  our  Refugees  who  can  speak  and  read 


Xll 


Preface 


nothing  else,  I  feel  the  next  best  thing  to  be 
done  is  to  try  to  raise  a  little  financial  help  for 
the  relief  of  such  as  find  themselves  stranded 
without  money  or  equipment  in  England,  where 
they  want  to  earn  a  living  and  pay  their  way. 
Accordingly  I  am  making  bold  to  place  on  the 
book  market  for  their  benefit  this  volume,  made 
up  of  papers  on  a  variety  of  subjects,  which  I 
venture  to  hope  may  serve  as  finger-posts  to 
those  of  my  readers  who,  like  other  pilgrims 
along  the  way  of  life,  may  find  themselves  for 
the  moment  at  a  junction  where  the  roads  cross 
without  being  quite  certain  which  of  them  is  the 
one  leading  to  their  true  destiny. 

Some  of  us  did  not  take  the  right  turning 
after  the  late  South  African  War ;  or  if  we  did 
for  a  while  we  did  not  keep  to  it,  so  that  the 
moral  status  of  our  country  in  the  estimate  of 
some  of  us  became  worse  after  than  it  was  before 
the  war.  Many,  it  would  seem,  only  half-re- 
pentant, relapsed,  returning  from  the  Narrow 
to  the  Broad  Road. 

To-day  we  are  plunged  into  a  life-and-death 
struggle  the  like  of  which  has  never  been  wit- 
nessed in  the  history  of  the  world.  God,  in  His 
saving  mercy,  may,  perhaps,  have  permitted  this 
scourge  to  fall  upon  us  that  the  very  pain  of  it 
might  bring  us  to  our  right  senses,  and  teach 


Preface  xiii 

us  that  we  have  not  been  sent  into  this  war-faring 
world  to  have  "a  good  time"  but  to  merit  "  a 
good  eternity."  War  is  a  great  teacher,  and  in 
its  school  we  get  to  learn  what  years  of  peace 
often  may  fail  to  teach.  War,  though  contrary  to 
the  perfect  Christian  ideal,  is  not  an  unmitigated 
evil,  still  less  is  it  an  unmixed  good — "It  is  of 
mingled  yarn,  good  and  bad  together."  We 
must  note  the  distinction. 

We  have  to  deal  with  two  schools  of  thought, 
the  one  represented  by  Nietzsche  and  Bernhardi, 
and  the  other  by  Tolstoi  and  Ramsay  Mac- 
donald. 

The  teaching  of  the  former  class  makes  out 
that  war  is  the  supreme  good,  a  "biological 
necessity,"  the  essential  factor  of  morality,  the 
religion  of  valour,  the  legitimate  expression  of 
highest  virtue ;  the  latter  class,  on  the  contrary, 
has  no  words  strong  enough  with  which  to  con- 
demn war.  It  is  for  this  class  of  men  the 
supreme  evil;  they  say,  nothing  can  justify  it,  no 
good  can  come  out  of  it.  Lifting  up  his  hands 
in  horror  of  it,  Mr.  Ramsay  Macdonald  exclaims, 
in  a  phrase  forestalled  by  the  infidel  Voltaire  : 
"The  hollow  mockery  of  it!  that  men  using 
the  same  name  and  worshipping  the  same  God 
should,  from  rival  battlefields  and  rival  pulpits, 
put  up  rival  prayers  asking  for  rival  blessings." 


XIV 

So  terribly  blasphemous  to  him  is  the  thought 
that  Germans,  Russians,  French  and  English 
should  be  invoking  a  blessing  on  their  rival 
forces,  that  he  goes  on  to  say  :  "I  wish  we  were 
back  in  the  old  pagan  days  when  every  land  had 
its  own  idol  to  which  it  could  pray."* 

Clearly  there  is  a  via  media  between  these  two 
extreme  lines  of  thought.  We  must  be  reasonable 
and  not  allow  ourselves  to  be  unduly  influenced 
in  giving  unqualified  praise  to  or  in  expressing 
wholesale  condemnation  of  war.  To  those  who 
have  persuaded  themselves  that  war  must  be  a 
supreme  good  because  forsooth  it  evokes  noble 
and  splendid  qualities  both  in  those  at  the  front 
and  in  those  remaining  at  home,  I  should  like 
to  say  that  plagues  and  earthquakes,  shipwrecks 
and  conflagrations  also  provide  the  occasion  for 
the  display  of  all  manner  of  virtues  which  make 
no  less  for  heroism.  And  as  we  pray  to  be  de- 
livered from  these  latter  calamities,  so  also  we  beg 
deliverance  from  war  itself  and  its  ravages.  On 
the  other  hand,  to  those  who  teach  that  war  is  a 
supreme  evil,  that  nothing  can  justify  it,  and  that 
to  suppress  violence  by  violence  is  criminal,  I 
should  wish  to  point  out  that  if  such  a  doctrine 
as  this  were  to  obtain  universally,  then  there 
would  presently  be  an  end  to  the  practice  of 

*  Manchester  Guardian,  Nov.  2nd,  1914. 


Preface 


XV 


Tightness  and  of  justice  on  earth.  Honour  would 
go,  Truth  would  go,  Justice  would  go.  There 
would  be  nothing  left  but  what  you  want  to  be 
rid  of — internecine  war. 

We  are  fighting  to-day  in  the  first  instance  be- 
cause there  is  something  we  prize  more  than  all 
our  national  possessions,  and  that  is  our  plighted 
word  and  our  national  honour.  Had  England 
cringed  before  the  foe,  and  turned  a  dull  ear  to 
the  cry  for  help  from  Belgium,  every  Britisher 
to-day  would  feel  he  had  been  sold  by  his 
Government  into  a  slavery  compared  with  which 
the  serfdom  of  our  Anglo-Saxon  forbears  was 
freedom. 

As  for  the  "rival  prayers  of  rival  nations,"  in- 
stead of  finding  anything  in  them  to  condemn  I 
find  much  to  praise.  As  it  does  not  shock,  but, 
on  the  contrary,  edifies  me  to  hear  of  Noncon- 
formists asking  God's  blessing  on  their  lives  and 
their  good  works,  so  am  I  comforted  no  less  to 
read  of  Bavarians  and  Rhine-men  pleading  for 
a  blessing  on  themselves,  their  arms  and  their 
banners.  The  fact  that  the  enemy  begs  God  to 
bless  his  cause  is  in  itself  a  proof  that  he  believes 
in  its  Tightness.  Do  not  such  prayers  go  to  show 
that  the  rank  and  file  of  the  armies  against  us  are 
doing  their  duty  in  good  faith  ?  Thank  God  for 
that !  Truth  to  tell,  the  German  people  believe 

b 


XVI 


Preface 


what  they  are  told  "  officially."  Accordingly  our 
enemy  is  persuaded  that  Count  Schwerin,  the 
President  of  the  Prussian  Diet,  expressed  accur- 
ately the  German  position  when  he  said  in  that 
assembly  :  '  We  have  honourably  striven  for 
peace,  but  have  been  forced  into  war  by  a  jealous 
and  envious  enemy." 

And  again:  "We  are  not  fighting  for  a 
greater  sphere  of  power,  the  enlargement  of 
our  Empire,  or  base  commercial  profit,  but  to 
defend  our  homes  and  families."  The  people 
believing  such  statements  as  these  may  well  be- 
seech God  to  bless  their  righteous  cause.  We 
ourselves  do  not  lay  claim  to  the  monopoly  of 
justice.  All  we  know  about  our  side  of  the  case 
is  that  "our  national  interests,  of  which  the 
highest  is  our  national  honour,"  have  compelled 
us  to  unsheathe  the  war-sword  and  to  fling  to  the 
wind  the  scabbard  till  the  fight  is  done  and  won. 

Had  the  late  Lord  Roberts's  strong  note  of 
warning  been  heeded  there  would  have  been  no 
war.  But  like  Cassandra,  who  prophesied  the 
Trojan  War  but  was  not  believed,  so  did  he  warn 
my  country  of  what  was  about  to  come  upon 
her ;  but  he  too  was  set  down  as  a  false  prophet 
and  told  to  mind  his  own  business.  It  is  not 
easy  to  know  which  to  admire  most,  that  great 
soldier's  eloquent  appeal  before  the  declaration 


Preface  xvii 

of  war  for  national  service,  or  his  eloquent 
silence  after  its  declaration  about  the  neglect  of 
that  appeal.  In  both  cases  he  was  an  object 
lesson  to  us  all  in  the  value  of  character. 

Is  it  too  much  to  hope  that  when  righteous 
and  abiding  peace  shall  have  been  proclaimed  at 
the  close  of  this  warfare,  England  will  then  see 
her  way  to  establish,  if  only  for  the  sake  of  the 
discipline  it  furnishes,  some  system  of  National 
Training  for  her  sons  of  Empire  ? 

In  this  college,  where  I  am  writing,  there 
has  been  now  for  many  years  compulsory  service 
of  all  the  boys  in  the  O.T.C.  What  it  has  done 
for  the  discipline,  the  alertness,  the  character 
and  the  patriotism  of  my  old  school  language 
cannot  express.  It  has  transformed  the  school. 
It  has  done  this  besides,  it  has  sent  not  fewer  than 
350  Stonyhurst  lads  to  join  the  colours,  and  it  is 
training  as  many  more  to-day  in  the  ways  of 
loyalty,  manliness  and  patriotism.* 

I  do  not  offer  any  apology  for  referring  in 
these  pages  to  German  barbarism,  atrocities  and 
arson,  because  instead  of  repudiating  these 
charges  of  brutality  German  authorities  defend 
them. 

*  Between  Stonyhurst  and  Beaumont,  to  mention  two  only  out  of  our 
seven  Jesuit  schools  in  England,  to-day  there  cannot  be  many  fewer  than 
seven  hundred  alumni  with  commissions  or  in  the  ranks.  Lord  Roberta's 
warning,  I  am  proud  to  say,  has  been  heeded  by  our  Catholic  schools. 


xviii  Preface 

Not  only  did  Bismarck  tell  the  troops  to  leave 
the  vanquished  nothing  but  eyes  to  weep  with, 
but  the  present  Chancellor  reminded  us  how 
Germany,  admittedly  in  the  wrong,  would  hack 
her  way  through  Belgium  to  victory  ;  and  to-day 
I  read  a  letter  sent  to  the  Hamburger  Nach- 
richten  by  General  von  Disfurth,  in  which  he 
declares,  "every  act  of  whatever  nature  ...  is 
fully  justified."  Read  the  following  extracts  of 
this  letter,  and  be  satisfied  about  the  real  situation 
of  this  super-nation  with  the  monopoly  of  Kultur. 

The  General  states  that : 

"No  object  whatever  is  served  by  taking 
any  notice  of  the  accusations  of  barbarity  lev- 
elled against  Germany  by  the  foreign  critics. 
Frankly,  we  are,  and  must  be,  barbarians,  if  by 
this  word  we  understand  those  who  wage  war 
relentlessly  to  the  uttermost  degree.  It  would 
be  incompatible  with  the  dignity  of  the  German 
Empire  and  with  the  proud  traditions  of  the 
Prussian  army  to  defend  our  courageous  soldiers 
from  the  accusations  which  have  been  hurled 
against  them  in  foreign  and  neutral  countries. 
We  owe  no  explanations  to  anyone. 

'There  is  nothing  for  us  to  justify  and 
nothing  for  us  to  explain  away.  Every  act  of 
whatever  nature  committed  by  our  troops  for  the 
purpose  of  discouraging,  defeating,  and  destroy- 


Preface  xix 

ing  our  enemies  is  a  brave  act,  a  good  deed,  and 
is  fully  justified. 

"It  is  of  no  consequence  whatever  if  all  the 
monuments  ever  created,  all  the  pictures  ever 
painted,  all  the  buildings  ever  erected  by  the 
great  architects  of  the  world  be  destroyed  if,  by 
their  destruction,  we  promote  Germany's  victory 
over  the  enemies  who  have  vowed  her  complete 
annihilation. 

"In  times  of  peace  we  might  perhaps  regard 
the  loss  of  such  things ;  but  at  the  present 
moment  not  a  word  of  regret,  not  a  thought, 
should  be  squandered  upon  them.  War  is  war, 
and  must  be  waged  with  severity.  The  com- 
monest, ugliest  stone  placed  to  mark  the  place  of 
burial  of  a  German  grenadier  is  a  more  glorious 
and  venerable  monument  than  all  the  cathedrals 
of  Europe  put  together.  .  .  . 

"For  my  part,  I  hope  that  in  this  war  we 
have  merited  the  title  of  barbarians.  Let  neutral 
peoples  and  our  enemies  stop  their  empty 
chatter,  which  may  well  be  compared  with  the 
twitter  of  birds.  Let  them  cease  to  talk  of  the 
cathedral  of  Rheims  and  of  all  the  churches  and 
all  the  castles  in  France  which  have  shared  its 
fate.  These  things  do  not  interest  us.  Our  troops 
must  achieve  victory.  What  else  matters?  "  * 

*  Sunday  Chronicle,  Nov.  15th,  1914. 


XX 


Preface 


One  way  of  partaking  in  another's  sin  is  by 
silence.  It  is  the  sin  of  the  coward.  If  I  did 
not  denounce  publicly  the  anti-Christian  utter- 
ances of  the  German  war  party  I  should  have  to 
write  myself  down  a  coward.  In  this  day  more 
especially  we  must  think  straight,  speak  straight, 
and  act  straight,  or  else  fall  back  into  the  ranks 
of  the  unemployed. 

I  close  this  preface  with  the  expression  of 
my  profound  grief  at  the  sad  loss  the  whole 
Empire  has  sustained  by  the  death  of  our  revered 
and  beloved  Field-Marshal  Lord  Roberts.  I  had 
fondly  hoped  he  would  have  done  me  the  honour 
of  introducing  my  volume  to  the  public.  In 
answer  to  my  request  he  sent  me  the  first  letter 
quoted  below,  which,  to  my  thinking,  serves 
better  than  a  preface  as  providing  for  my 
audience  such  a  noble  object  lesson  in  the  Chris- 
tian patriotism  advocated  in  the  following  pages. 
On  my  expressing  myself  in  this  sense  to  Lord 
Roberts  he  wrote  me  another  cordial  letter  which 
also  I  have  pleasure  in  introducing. 

"  ENGLEMERE, 
u  ASCOT,  BERKS. 

"  October  196$,  1914. 

' '  DEAR  FATHER  VAUGHAN, 

"  I  am  much  obliged  for  your  letter  of  the 
18th  instant  and  greatly  appreciate  the  compli- 


Preface  xxi 

ment  you  have  paid  me  in  asking  me  to  write  a 
preface  to  your  forthcoming  book.  Under  or- 
dinary circumstances  I  should  be  only  too  glad  to 
meet  your  wishes,  but,  as  matters  stand,  I  regret 
it  is  impossible. 

"  I  can  hardly  cope  with  the  heavy  correspond- 
ence this  war  has  entailed  upon  me,  and  the 
many  extra  duties  I  have  undertaken  in  connec- 
tion with  it  take  up  so  much  of  my  time  that  I 
can  hardly  get  through  my  ordinary  routine. 

"  Were  it  not  for  this,  what  you  propose  would 
have  been  a  congenial  task,  as  the  book  will,  I 
am  sure,  be  most  interesting.  I  hope  you  will 
send  me  a  copy  when  it  appears. 

"  Yours  sincerely, 

"ROBERTS,  F.M." 

••  ENGLHMERE, 
"  ASCOT,  BERKS. 

u  October  2Qth,  1914. 

"  DEAR  FATHER  VAUGHAN, 

"  You  are  most  welcome  to  use  my  letter 
of  the  19th  instant,  as  you  kindly  propose.  I 
feel  flattered  you  should  think  the  letter  could 

be  of  use. 

"  Yours  sincerely, 

"ROBERTS." 

Stonyhurst  College,  BERNARD    VAUGHAN. 

Nov.  i6th,  1914. 


WHAT   OF    TO-DAY? 


THE  NEW  SPIRIT 

THERE  are  two  kinds  of  writers,  as  there  are  two 
kinds  of  speakers — those  who  have  to  say  some- 
thing, and  those  who  have  something  to  say. 
I  believe,  after  due  consideration,  that  I  belong 
to  the  second  class ;  for  I  have  something  to  say, 
something  at  any  rate  which  I  feel  ought  to 
be  said.  I  have  something  to  say  with  which 
many,  perhaps  most,  of  my  readers  will  not  agree. 
If,  indeed,  men  in  general  were  ready  to  agree 
with  me,  there  would  be  no  necessity  for  me 
to  write  at  all.  But  I  must  be  prepared  for  more 
than  passive  disagreement,  and  I  am  quite  aware 
that  to  be  called  a  reactionary,  a  conventionalist, 
or  a  pessimist  is  quite  the  mildest  criticism  I 
may  expect. 

We  are  living  in  an  age  in  which,  more  than 
in  any  other  perhaps,  new  ideas  are  being  put 
forward,  new  views  of  morality  are  industriously 
disseminated,  new  solutions  of  the  old  human 
problems  are  daily  presented  to  us.  It  is  suffi- 
cient, it  appears,  that  a  point  of  view  should  be 
old  or  conventional  for  its  instant  condemnation  ; 
and  we  hear  a  great  deal  of  the  spirit  of  revolt,  of 
B 


2  What  of  To-Day? 

the  wisdom  of  the  rising  generation,  of  the  cast- 
ing off  of  the  shackles,  religious,  intellectual,  and 
moral,  which  have  hitherto,  it  seems,  impeded 
man  so  seriously  in  his  progress  towards 
"freedom,"  that  the  wonder  is  how  he  has 
managed  to  raise  himself  above  the  brutes  at  all. 

Now,  I  would  not  have  it  supposed  that 
because  I  am  one  of  those  whose  final  exit  from 
this  stage  cannot  be  long  delayed,  I  am,  there- 
fore, wholly  out  of  sympathy  with  every  new 
movement,  that  I  cling  to  certain  old  beliefs  and 
conventions  merely  because  they  are  old.  But  if 
there  are  some  things  in  this  "  new  spirit"  with 
which  we  must  all  sympathise — such  movements, 
I  mean,  as  tend  to  real  social  reform,  to  the 
bettering  of  the  condition  of  the  poorer  classes, 
and  the  growth  of  the  broader  spirit  of  brother- 
hood— there  are,  nevertheless,  dangerous  indica- 
tions that  in  the  all  but  universal  revolt  against 
the  old  order,  much  is  being  light-heartedly 
attacked  that  is  not  only  useful  but  absolutely 
essential  to  the  spiritual,  and  therefore  the  real, 
welfare  of  all  sections  of  society. 

We  are  pelted  with  specious  arguments 
against  '  conventional  "  marriage,  "  conven- 
tional"  morality,  "conventional"  standards  of  all 
sorts.  Yet  those  who  attack  such  conventions 
never  stop  to  ask  themselves  on  what  grounds 
these  long-established  ideas  are  based.  For  them 
a  convention  is  necessarily  wrong.  Now  to  enter 
upon  an  argument  with  such  people  is  futile, 


The  New  Spirit  3 

partly  because  argument  usually  leads  to  nothing 
but  a  bitter  controversy,  barren  of  result,  and 
partly  because  their  own  methods  are  not 
logical,  but,  as  a  rule,  inductive. 

A  dramatist,  for  example,  will  give  us  a  play 
whose  moral  is  that  women  are  entitled  to  lead 
their  own  lives,  as  the  cant  phrase  goes,  with  the 
same  licence  that  men  are  popularly  supposed 
to  enjoy.  But,  even  supposing  discussion  to  be 
possible  on  such  a  subject,  we  shall  not  find  in 
the  class  of  play  I  am  referring  to  any  hint  that  it 
is  woman's  function  to  raise  man  to  a  higher 
level  instead  of  competing  with  him  as  to  which 
shall  be  the  baser  sex. 

In  novels,  or  at  any  rate  in  many  novels  which 
have  gained  great  popularity,  the  same  tendency 
is  observable.  Old-fashioned  ideas — I  do  not 
disown  the  adjective — are  held  up  to  ridicule,  not 
without  skill,  I  admit,  while  the  heroine,  about 
whose  mode  of  life  the  less  said  the  better,  is 
depicted  as  an  admirable  character,  whose  chief 
quality  is  to  prove  her  superiority  over  the  rest 
of  the  humdrum  characters  of  the  story  by  the 
audacity  of  her  views  and  actions. 

These,  and  other  equally  abominable  fallacies, 
are  what  I  would  wish  to  raise  my  voice  against, 
all  the  more  loudly  since  such  ideas  arc  unhappily 
gaming  ground,  and,  alas,  our  modern  system 
of  education  is  not  directed  towards  combating 
them. 

This    book,   then,   forms   my   protest   against 


4  What  of  To-Day? 

the  spirit  permeating  the  age :  an  age  which  is 
seemingly  determined  to  live  without  religion, 
without  morality,  without  discipline  or  restraint 
of  any  sort.  I  have  admitted  that  this  spirit  of 
revolt  is  not  altogether  bad ;  if  directed  into 
proper  channels  it  might  be  wholly  good.  But 
the  terrible  truth  is,  that  the  revolt  we  are  wit- 
nessing to-day  is  not  mainly  against  such  modern 
conditions  of  life  as  we  all  deplore,  but  against 
authority  of  every  kind. 

The  right  of  every  man  to  lead  his  own  life 
in  the  manner  which  appears  most  pleasing 
in  his  own  eyes — that  is  the  ideal  which  our 
twentieth  century  revolters  of  every  class,  con- 
sciously or  unconsciously,  have  put  before  them- 
selves. I  say  emphatically  that  no  man  or  woman 
has  that  right.  Mere  denial  of  the  duty  we  owe 
to  God,  to  our  neighbour,  and  to  ourselves,  will 
not  rid  us  of  that  threefold  debt ;  the  mere 
assertion  that  man  is  free  to  do  as  he  pleases, 
does  not,  and  never  will,  release  the  spiritual, 
the  moral  side  of  him  from  that  threefold  obli- 
gation. It  is  the  triple  cord  not  easily  broken. 


II 

THE  WAR  AND  THE  EMPIRE 

No  Englishman,  I  think,  can  feel  otherwise  than 
proud  of  the  spirit  in  which  the  call  to  arms  has 
been  met.  With  few  exceptions — and  those  of 
little  account — each  of  us  has,  in  his  own  way, 
done  something  and  made  some  sort  of  sacrifice 
for  the  sake  of  his  country. 

Whatever  be  the  result  of  the  titanic  struggle 
to  which,  through  no  fault  of  our  own,  we  are 
committed,  we  can  at  least  feel  that  we  have  done 
our  duty,  that  our  consciences  are  clear,  and  that 
we  have  played  the  man  as  befits  those  who  have 
so  glorious  a  heritage  to  maintain.  Never  have 
we  fought  in  a  more  righteous  cause,  and  never, 
even  in  the  days  of  Napoleon,  have  we  entered 
upon  a  war  with  less  thought  of  personal  profit 
or  national  aggrandisement. 

No  one  in  his  senses  supposes  that  the  Servian 
episode  alone  could,  by  any  exaggeration,  have 
formed  sufficient  justification  for  the  world-wide 
conflagration  now  raging.  It  was  the  German 
War  Lords  who  chose  to  seize  the  occasion  as 
a  suitable  one  for  the  prosecution  of  their  own 
designs  of  illimitable  power.  Nothing  could 


6  What  of  To-Day? 

have  been  easier  than  for  Germany  to  have 
settled  the  Austro-Servian  dispute  by  diplomatic 
methods.  But  we  now  realise  only  too  well 
that  Germany  was  bent  on  conquest  and  was  but 
awaiting  her  opportunity  to  unsheathe  the  sword. 
She  wanted  peace  only  till  she  was  ready  for  war, 
and  before  the  allied  nations  were  aware  of  her 
purpose,  she  was  already  mobilising  her  troops. 
When  the  favourable  hour  struck,  when  the 
opportunity  arrived,  the  enemy  rose  up  in  his 
full  strength  and  declared,  through  his  Chan- 
cellor, that  the  German  troops  "would  hack 
their  way  to  victory." 

The  publication  of  the  White  Book,  from 
which  Mr.  Asquith  and  Sir  Edward  Grey  drew 
the  texts  of  their  epoch-making  speeches,  has 
proved  beyond  all  possible  doubt  that  Germany 
was  out  to  re-cast  the  map  of  Europe  and  to 
reconstruct  the  nations  of  the  earth.  The  war 
party  was  determined  to  justify  to  the  people  its 
vast  armaments.  It  had  sat  on  the  safety-valve 
long  enough,  and  now  it  promised  its  teeming 
population  nothing  less  than  the  French  Colonial 
Empire  as  a  reward  for  the  patient  endurance  of 
the  heavy  burdens  laid  upon  them  by  the  cease- 
less demands  of  their  War  Lords. 

The  lust  of  power  and  the  greed  of  gain  has 
so  atrophied  Prussia's  moral  sense  that  in  her 
intoxication  she  has  altogether  forgotten  those 
principles  upon  which  alone  civilised  nations 
can  live  and  flourish.  Not  only  has  the  enemy 


The  War  and  the  Empire      7 

trampled  on  treaties  to  which  he  has  solemnly 
signed  his  name,  but  he  has  invaded  neutral  terri- 
tories where  he  had  no  right  to  a  foothold  and  then 
stooped  in  his  blind  insolence  to  ask  Great  Britain 
to  be  a  party  to  a  bargain  which  was  nothing 
less  than  the  stabbing  of  a  friend  in  the  back. 
Germany's  whole  policy  has  been  a  conspiracy 
against  honour,  truth  and  freedom,  while  the 
German  Chancellor,  with  infinite  irony,  has 
promised  to  make  what  was  all  wrong,  all  right. 
But  not  even  the  Chancellor  himself  knows  the 
secret  of  performing  such  a  miracle  of  black 
magic. 

It  is  difficult,  even  with  the  facts  before  us, 
to  believe  that  a  people  so  cultured,  so  learned, 
so  scientific  and  so  brave  could  stoop  to  methods 
so  base  and  contemptible,  in  order  to  facilitate 
the  robbery  of  possessions  to  which  they  could 
show  no  claim.  Never  before  has  a  civilised 
Christian  nation  adopted  so  cynically  for  its 
motto  the  theory  that  "the  end  justifies  the 
means."  But  the  war  party  —  the  party  that 
boasts  of  its  blood  and  iron  policy — had  to  justify 
its  methods  somehow,  by  fair  means  or  foul. 
The  reported  brutality  of  the  Prussian  soldiery 
in  Belgium  was  not,  as  some  people  have  tried 
to  make  out,  an  instance  of  the  lust  for  blood 
suddenly  breaking  out  among  hitherto  super- 
ficially civilised  individuals.  It  was  part  of  the 
calculated  policy  of  Germany  to  strike  terror  into 
the  hearts  of  those  who  should  oppose  her  designs. 


8  What  of  To-Day? 

The  German  soldier  is  far  too  strongly  disciplined 
to  dare  to  commit  such  outrages  as  have  been 
proved  against  him  without  the  express  sanction 
of  superior  officers  who  dominate  him.  The 
murders  that  lie  at  the  door  of  Prussia  have  been 
committed  deliberately.  The  victims  whose 
blood  cries  to  Heaven  for  vengeance  have  been 
offered  as  sacrifices  to  the  German  War  God, 
whose  other  name  is  Odin.  And  if  anyone  still 
doubts  the  possibility  of  such  inhuman  savagery 
in  this  twentieth  century,  let  him  compare  the 
conduct  of  the  German  soldiery  in  such  towns 
as  opened  their  gates  without  resistance  with 
the  awful  massacres  which  followed  the  slightest 
attempt  on  the  part  of  the  Belgian  villagers  to 
defend  their  hearths  and  homes. 

This  catastrophic  war  which  the  overweening 
ambition  and  pride  of  Prussianised  Germany 
has  so  suddenly  let  loose  on  the  world  is 
going  to  be  a  long  and  sanguinary  struggle. 
None  can  doubt  it.  And  it  is  equally  certain  that 
many  sacrifices  will  be  demanded  of  the  British 
people  and  the  British  Empire  before  it  can  be 
ended.  Yet  we  have  many  grounds  for  encour- 
agement in  the  dark  days  that  must  lie  before  us. 
Germany  has  many  millions  of  brave  men  at 
her  command.  Her  forces  are  led  by  skilled 
leaders,  and  in  their  ranks  every  man  is  set  and 
fixed  like  the  cog  of  a  wheel  in  the  great  engine 
of  war.  But  their  battle-cry  has  been  set  in  a 
minor  key.  It  lacks  the  vitality  of  fine  motive, 


The  War  and  the  Empire      9 

and  except  on  the  plea  that  might  is  right,  their 
fight  cannot  be  justified.  Like  a  blind  Samson, 
Germany  is  grappling  with  ruin  and  destruction, 
and  is  hoping,  if  the  worst  should  come  to  the 
worst,  to  involve  the  whole  world  in  a  common 
disaster  with  herself. 

Therefore,  on  moral  grounds  alone,  we  have 
good  reason  to  continue  fighting  with  light,  as 
well  as  stout,  hearts.  We  have  been  forced  into 
a  war,  of  which  there  was  no  possibility  of 
our  keeping  clear,  save  at  the  sacrifice  of  all 
that  honourable  men  hold  sacred.  Once  more, 
as  of  old,  we  have  sent  our  mighty  fleet  to 
guard  the  seas ;  once  more  we  have  gathered 
together  as  great  an  army  as  we  could.  And 
our  Empire  from  east  to  west  stands  shoulder 
to  shoulder,  with  teeth  set  and  muscles  braced, 
resolving  never  to  lay  down  arms  till  the  aggres- 
sive force  of  blood  and  iron  be  broken  and 
disarmed  as  was  that  of  Napoleon  a  hundred 
years  ago. 

The  troops  of  our  Empire  have  rallied 
under  the  inspiring  motto  "For  Honour,  Truth 
and  Freedom."  We,  a  peace-loving  Empire, 
have  heard  the  cry  and  taken  up  arms,  because 
we  are  not  dead  to  what  those  words  imply. 
We  were  slow  to  declare  war ;  we  needed  no  fresh 
fields  of  conquest ;  we  had  no  ambitions  but  for 
peace  and  prosperity.  We  are  a  patient  people, 
not  easily  provoked  to  aggressive  action,  but 
there  is  one  thing  we  still  cherish  as  dearer  than 


io  What  of  To-Day? 

life — and  I  rejoice  to  be  able  to  know  that  it 
is  so — and  that  is  British  honour,  British  truth 
and  British  freedom. 

The  insulting  bribe  offered  by  Germany  in 
the  hope  of  keeping  us  neutral  has  stung  this 
nation  to  the  quick,  and  the  effect  has  been  to 
rouse  the  British  spirit  as  it  has  never  been 
roused  before.  Never  has  Britain  in  the  whole 
of  her  glorious  island-story  engaged  in  a  nobler 
crusade  ;  never  have  her  sons  rallied  with 
greater  alertness  to  her  colours  ;  never  have  we 
had  more  reason  to  be  proud  of  being  the 
subjects  of  an  Empire  that  would  not  break 
her  word  of  honour  and  has  shown  that  in  the 
hour  of  need  she  still  sets  a  higher  value  on 
moral,  than  on  material,  things. 

I  happened  to  be  staying  in  Scotland  during 
the  first  month  of  the  war  and  nothing  could 
have  been  more  heartening  to  see  than  the 
eagerness  of  every  man  in  that  country  to  don 
the  King's  uniform  and  get  to  the  front.  I  was 
talking  to  some  Highland  keepers,  past  the 
war  age,  on  the  subject.  "What  a  pity  it  is," 
I  said,  "that  you  and  I  are  too  old  for  the 
fighting  line." 

"  May  be,"  replied  one  of  them,  "  if  the 
young  are  killed  off  we  may  yet  be  there,  and 
we  will  die  hard,  every  one  of  us." 

Not  so  long  ago — though  it  seems  incredibly 
remote  to  us  now — that  word  "Die-hard"  was 
used  as  a  contemptuous  political  term.  But 


The  War  and  the  Empire     n 

to-day  we  are  all  Die-hards  in  the  truest  and 
noblest  sense  of  the  word.  And  if  we  are,  by 
the  blessing  of  God,  to  win  through  the  most 
desperate  crisis  with  which  our  Empire  has 
ever  been  confronted,  Die-hards  we  must  con- 
tinue to  the  bitter  end. 

More  than  anything  else,  I  think,  it  is  the 
consciousness  of  the  justice  of  our  cause  that 
will  carry  us  on  to  ultimate  victory.  The 
Empire  is  not  handicapped  by  want  of  a  motive 
in  this  deadly  struggle.  "Never,"  said  Mr. 
Asquith  in  a  ringing  phrase,  "has  England 
gone  to  battle  with  a  clearer  conscience."  In 
the  words  of  the  text  we  can  feel  — "  If  whole 
armies  stand  up  against  me,  I  will  not  fear;  for 
Thou  art  with  me."  We  are  fighting — and  we 
shall  continue  to  fight — for  all  that  makes  for 
'honour  and  freedom.  Our  English,  Scottish 
and  Irish  soldiers,  as  well  as  the  contingents 
from  our  oversea  dominions,  are  inspired  and 
actuated  by  principles  which  make  irresistibly 
for  victory.  However  the  tide  of  battle  may 
flow  from  day  to  day,  whatever  reverses  we 
may  be  called  upon  to  sustain,  we  shall  bear 
all  things  with  fortitude  and  courage  if  we 
keep  steadily  in  mind  the  great  fact  that  this 
war  is  one  of  moral  against  brute  force. 

We  are  armed  and  up  to  fight  an  organised 
power  whose  religion  is  might  and  whose 
ideal  is  "Germany,  the  arbiter  of  nations  and 
the  War  Lord  of  the  World."  The  struggle 


12  What  of  To-Day? 

may  be  long,  the  losses  will  be  counted  in 
hundreds  of  thousands,  but  if  we  are  true  to 
our  traditions  and  our  ideals,  the  shout  of 
victory  will  be  ours,  and  the  sacrament  of  fire 
through  which  we  are  passing,  will  be  for  the 
cleansing  of  Europe.  Chastened  and  purified 
it  will  emerge  from  those  cleansing  flames, 
and,  if  God  wills,  the  end  of  this  crusade  shall 
bring  about  universal  peace  among  the  nations, 
so  that  instead  of  peoples  armed  to  the  teeth 
and  ready  to  spring  at  one  another's  throats, 
there  shall  in  the  future  be  seen  rising  up  on 
the  earth  a  Brotherhood  of  nations,  under  the 
Fatherhood  of  God,  living  on  terms  with  one 
another  under  the  smile  of  heaven  in  a  "multi- 
tude of  peace."  It  may  take  years  before  we  all 
become  united  in  the  bonds  of  Christian  peace, 
but  this  war  may  be  the  means  of  bringing  it 
about.  It  must  be  our  constant  and  fervent 
prayer  that  there  may  be,  in  God's  good  time, 
found  among  all  the  Christian  nations  of  the 
earth  a  righteous  and  enduring  peace,  with 
England  and  Germany  knit  closer  together  than 
ever  before,  not  only  by  the  ties  of  "blood 
thicker  than  water,"  but  also  by  the  bonds  of 
love  stronger  than  death. 


Ill 

THE   REAL  SUPERMAN 
I.— His  "KULTUR" 

AMONG  the  many  false  gods  and  unclean  idols 
which  the  perversity  of  man's  nature  has  set  up 
as  objects  of  adoration,  I  know  of  none  more 
repulsive  than  the  figure  of  that  grinning  mon- 
ster whose  temple  is  in  the  innermost  courts  of 
Teutonic  "  culture,"  and  of  whose  gospel  a 
madman  was  the  fitting  evangelist. 

The  worship  of  brute  force  is  no  new  thing. 
Primitive  communities  indeed  can  have  no 
other  standard  than  that  of  physical  strength 
and  courage  by  which  to  measure  the  worth  of 
their  heroes.  But  it  has  been  the  chief  justifi- 
cation of  all  civilised  societies  which  have  existed 
up  to  the  present  age,  that  they  have  recognised 
the  superiority  of  moral  virtue  over  mere  bodily 
excellence,  and  have  acknowledged  that  the 
highest  intellectual  or  physical  qualities  do  not 
in  themselves  constitute,  if  the  moral  attributes 
are  lacking,  a  claim  to  the  veneration  or  ap- 
plause of  mankind. 

It  has  been  reserved  for  our  day,  and  for 
a  civilisation  which  claims  to  be  the  most 
cultured  the  world  has  yet  seen,  to  witness 

13 


14  What  of  To-Day  ? 

the  cult  of  the  "  Superman  "  —a  monstrous 
being  whose  mission  it  is  to  prove  his  strength 
by  setting  up  his  own  standard  of  morality, 
his  own  code  of  ethics,  his  own  measure  of 
right  and  wrong.  Few  of  us,  I  imagine,  have 
realised  until  the  present  war,  that  the  theories 
of  German  philosophers  could  ever  be  trans- 
lated into  action,  and  fewer  still  can  have 
understood  into  what  terrible  depths  of  de- 
pravity such  gospel  could  lead  a  professedly 
cultured  and  civilised  nation. 

Confession  is  good  for  the  soul.  And  while 
we  recoil  in  horror  from  the  long  list  of  broken 
treaties,  of  dishonourable  dealings,  of  shocking 
atrocities  and  of  nameless  outrages  which  stand 
to  the  discredit  of  the  Nietzschean  gospel,  let  us 
not  forget  that  this  veritable  Moloch,  this  true 
Anti-Christ,  has  not  lacked  disciples  even  among 
ourselves,  whose  eyes  have  been  blinded  to 
the  inner  meaning  of  the  teaching  of  the 
"  Superman." 

Mankind,  in  haste  to  get  away  from  the 
teaching  of  Christianity,  has,  implicitly  at  least, 
accepted  many  of  the  doctrines  of  the  material- 
istic philosophy  of  Germany.  The  Christian 
virtues  of  humility,  obedience,  chastity  and  pen- 
ance have  come  to  be  regarded  with  contempt. 
Nietzsche's  definition  of  "slave-morality"  has 
been  accepted  by  only  too  many  as  synonymous 
with  the  teaching  of  Christ.  And  the  figure  of 
the  Superman,  resolute  and  self-sufficient,  mak- 


The  Real  Superman          15 

ing  no  terms  with  Heaven  or  Hell,  and  carving 
his  way  to  success,  heedless  of  the  tears  or 
groans  of  his  weaker  brethren,  has  had,  for  a 
large  number  of  us,  an  irresistible  and  unholy 
fascination. 

Three  dreary  months  of  reality  has  cleared  the 
air.  Our  eyes  have  been  opened  by  the  actions 
of  the  Superman  himself,  and  we  see  him  for 
what  he  is — a  barbarian  and  a  bully,  who  has 
no  pity  for  the  tears  of  little  children  or  the 
sobs  of  widowed  mothers,  and  who  is  prepared 
to  hack  his  way  to  victory  and  the  ultimate 
over-lordship  of  the  world.  Long  years  of  peace 
and  security  have  lulled  us  into  the  comfortable 
delusion  that  there  was  something  splendid  in 
the  notion  of  a  hero  who  should  be  above  the 
common  race  of  men,  and  we  had  even  come 
to  talk  lightly  of  pity  and  such  kindred  virtues 
as  weaknesses  from  which  the  "  strong  man  " 
should  be  exempt. 

"You  must  leave  the  people  through  whom 
you  march,"  said  Bismarck,  in  his  description  of 
how  warfare  should  be  carried  on,  "only  their 
eyes  to  weep  with."  And  the  German  soldiery, 
forty  years  later,  have  carried  out  those  orders 
only  too  faithfully.  There  is  no  occasion  for  me 
to  recapitulate  here  the  horrors  which  have  filled 
columns  of  English  and  American  dailies.  It  is 
my  part  to  draw  the  moral  from  the  tale  of 
such  atrocities  as  cannot  be  paralleled  in  the 
annals  of  civilised  warfare. 


16  What  of  To-Day  ? 

Even  now,  I  have  found  many  people  sin- 
gularly slow  to  grasp  the  true  significance  of  the 
deeds  done  in  Belgium.  I  have  spoken  to 
people  who,  horrified  though  they  are  at  the 
frightful  stories  of  arson  and  murder  perpe- 
trated by  the  German  troops,  have  merely  seen 
in  them  a  further  argument  against  all  form 
of  warfare,  and  sometimes  a  dreadful  commen- 
tary on  the  innate  depravity  of  human  nature. 
Such  an  attitude  is  hopelessly  wrong.  War, 
we  know,  cannot  be  waged  with  kid  gloves, 
but  even  war,  as  conducted  in  a  civilised  age, 
may  be  waged  with  humanity.  Our  own  men, 
I  am  proud  to  think,  have  shown  that  sol- 
diers are  not  necessarily  brutal  or  debased 
because  they  are  fighting  for  their  country. 
We  must  seek  the  explanation  of  the  infamies 
perpetrated  in  Belgium  and  elsewhere,  not  in 
the  madness  or  blood-lust  suddenly  overtaking 
an  army  enraged  by  resistance,  but  in  that 
diabolical  philosophy  which  has  in  these  latter 
years  usurped  the  place  of  Christianity  and 
erected  the  image  of  the  Superman  on  the  altar 
of  God  Himself. 

Never,  I  think,  in  the  pages  of  history,  has 
there  been  presented  to  us  such  a  spectacle 
as  that  of  Prussia  justifying  and  exulting  in 
the  savagery  displayed  by  its  army  in  the  field 
as  proof  of  her  own  wonderful  culture  and 
civilisation.  When  Attila  ravaged  Europe  with 
fire  and  sword,  he  did  not  plead  that  he  was 


The  Real  Superman  17 

spreading  a  higher  culture  among  his  victims. 
On  the  contrary,  he  called  himself  "the  scourge 
of  God."  And  if  there  have  been  other  bar- 
barian generals  and  armies  who  have  equalled 
the  ferocity  of  the  Prussian  soldiery,  let  it  at 
least  be  recorded  in  extenuation  of  their  mis- 
deeds that  they  made  no  pretence  to  be  other 
than  they  were. 

That  is  not  the  case  to-day.  It  is  in  the 
name  of  modern  "culture"  that  the  horrors  of 
which  we  have  read  have  been  done.  It  is 
from  Nietzsche,  from  Heine,  from  Hausser 
and  from  Treitschke  that  Germany  derives  her 
anti-Christian  spirit.  The  Superman  of  to-day 
is  the  very  antithesis  of  the  Christ  of  Galilee. 
Openly  and  undisguisedly  the  Christian  is  con- 
temned and  the  ideals  of  Christianity  made  a 
laughing-stock.  Here  is  a  lesson  for  us  all,  and 
we  shall  do  well  to  consider  to  what  a  pass 
that  country  may  be  brought  which  rejects 
Christ  and  offers  its  worship  to  an  ideal  which 
the  very  Pagan  would  have  looked  upon  with 
horror. 

There  has  lately  passed  from  among  us  one 
whose  whole  life  was  a  witness  to  the  truth  of 
Christ's  teaching,  and  who  in  his  own  person 
was  the  exact  antithesis  of  the  Nietzschean 
Superman.  Pius  X.,  as  has  been  well  said  of 
him,  was  "by  origin  a  peasant  and  by  vocation 
a  saint."  The  "culture  "  of  German  philosophy 
was  denied  him,  yet  in  his  own  person  he  em- 
c 


18  What  of  To-Day? 

bodied  all  those  qualities  with  which  all,  save 
the  followers  of  the  doctrine  of  brute  force, 
would  endow  their  ideal  Superman.  He  was 
called  unwillingly  to  the  highest  and  the  most 
widespread  sovereignty  in  the  world ;  and  his 
conduct  in  that  high  station,  for  which  chiefly  the 
saintliness  and  simplicity  of  his  life  had  fitted 
him,  elicited  on  his  death  a  universal  tribute 
of  admiration  and  applause. 

Here  was  an  example — and  the  world  was 
quick  to  recognise  it — of  the  real  Superman, 
and  not  the  spurious  brand  which  "culture" 
and  "science,"  uncontrolled  by  religion,  have 
set  before  us.  Not  the  man  of  blood  and  iron, 
the  ruthless  bully  who  leaves  his  brethren  "only 
their  eyes  to  weep  with,"  but  the  man  of 
knighthood  and  chivalry,  the  man  with  the  heart 
of  a  child,  is  the  real  Superman.  On  the  blood- 
stained fields  of  Belgium  we  have  seen  the 
Nietzschean  Superman  in  being.  On  the 
throne  of  St.  Peter,  incarnated  in  Pius  X.,  we 
have  had  a  supreme  example  of  the  Christian 
ideal. 

We  must  return  to  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount.  We  must  get  back  to  the  Teacher,  and 
then  we  shall  accept  His  teaching.  Against  the 
foul  Superman  of  the  Devil's  imagining  we 
must  set  up  the  knightly  Superman  of  Christ's 
Gospel.  The  powers  of  darkness  have  unmasked 
themselves  prematurely,  and  the  hideousness  of 
the  revelation  has  appalled  a  world  not  yet  so 


The  Real  Superman  19 

utterly  gone  astray  as  to  be  unable  to  distin- 
guish between  brute  force  and  moral  power, 
between  vice  and  virtue,  between  devilry  and 
sanctity. 

The  anti-Christian  Superman  has  declared  in 
his  arrogance  that  he  will  re-map  Europe,  that  i 
nothing  less  than  the  Empire  of   the  world  will  \ 
content  him.     It  is  for  a  re-mapped  Europe  that 
we,  too,  are  fighting.     We  must  crush  for  ever     I 
under   our    heel    the    pestilent    serpent,    whose    / 
poisonous  breath  would  paralyse  all  the  noblest 
and  most  spiritual  aspirations  of  mankind.    And  in 
this  most  righteous  crusade  against  the  enemies 
of   all   which    we,    as    Christians,    hold   dear,    it 
should    hearten   us   to    bear    in    mind    that    we 
are   fighting,    not   only  for   home   and  children, 
for    country    and    empire,    but    for     truth    and 
honour,    for   justice    and    freedom,    in   a   word, 
for   all   that   is   loftiest   and    holiest  in  Christian 
civilisation. 

Such  is  our  conviction,  and  though  we  can 
scarcely  dare  to  hope  that  the  enemy  will  give 
us  credit  for  it,  we  do  proclaim  to  the  whole 
world  that  we  are,  in  this  warfare,  actuated  by 
no  feelings  of  hatred  against  the  German  people, 
but  rather  against  those  false  ideals  advocated 
in  the  Heidelberg  School  and  taught  by 
Hausser  and  Schlosser,  and  extolled  by  Treit- 
schke  and  his  following  as  the  only  ones 
worthy  to-day  of  "the  civilised  and  cultured 
German  Empire." 


20  What  of  To-Day? 

II. — His  CREED 

WE  have  seen  only  too  clearly  to  what  depths 
of  unspeakable  depravation  the  Nietzschean 
Superman,  resting  on  himself  alone,  must  inev- 
itably sink.  The  Christian  virtues  are  for  him 
something  worse  than  signs  of  weakness  ;  they 
rank  indeed  as  crimes  in  the  code  of  his 
"  master-morality."  And  even  such  natural 
human  emotions  as  pity  and  love  are  to  him 
anathema.  Now  of  all  the  qualities — or  rather 
absence  of  qualities — which  go  to  make  up 
the  frozen  semblance  of  man  which  we  have 
been  asked  to  bow  down  before  and  worship, 
the  lack  of  love  is,  I  think,  the  most  horrify- 
ing and  repulsive. 

What  is  there  stronger  on  earth,  what  is 
there  sweeter  or  grander,  what  is  there  loftier 
or  holier,  what  is  there  greater  or  more  divine 
in  its  essence  than  love  ?  Love — divine  love — 
is  the  vital  principle  of  the  Christian  soul. 
And  the  man,  whose  soul  is  without  it,  may 
as  well  draw  down  the  blinds  and  go  into 
mourning  at  once  for  his  spiritual  death.  "If 
I  should  distribute  all  my  goods  to  feed  the 
poor,"  says  St.  Paul,  "  and  if  I  should  deliver 
my  body  to  be  burned,  and  have  not  charity, 
it  profiteth  me  nothing." 

Perfect,  according  to  his  own  code,  the 
Nietzschean  Superman  may  be  ;  perfect,  that 
is  to  say,  in  his  relentless  application  of  all 


The  Real  Superman  21 

the  devilish  designs  of  his  master,  Satan,  but 
it  is  a  "dead  perfection,"  such  as  that  of 
which  the  poet  speaks.  It  is  not  God,  as  he 
pretends,  who  is  dead.  It  is  he  himself  who 
is  living  a  hideous  death-in-life. 

Is  there  anything  greater  than  the  love  of 
a  mother  for  her  child  ?  I  only  know  one 
thing,  the  love  of  God  for  us,  and  all  that 
He  asks  us  in  return  is  that  we  shall  give 
Him  such  love  as  we  are  capable  of.  And 
for  that  we  must  become  as  little  children, 
we  must  trust  ourselves  wholly  to  Him  and 
get  rid  of  every  atom  of  that  terrible  pride, 
that  appalling  self-sufficiency  which  stamps  the 
Nietzschean  super-monster. 

Moral  and  mental  shipwreck,  as  these  past 
days  of  trial  have  taught  us,  is  the  inevitable 
fate  of  all  who  think  they  can  do  without 
God  and  set  up  their  own  law  in  opposition  to  A^U^~ 
His.  Man  is  but  a  child,  and  needs,  as  does 
all  else  in  nature,  a  prop  to  lean  upon.  That 
is  the  lesson  which  God  Himself  came  down 
to  earth  to  teach  us.  And  does  not  the  active 
anti-Christianity  of  the  spurious  Superman  clearly 
prove  to  us  where  that  same  support  is  to  be 
found?  Where  else  but  on  the  strong  arm  of 
the  Son  of  God? 

Of  a  truth,  if  we  do  our  part,  we  are  all 
destined  to  be  supermen,  and  more  than  super- 
men, some  day.  But  we  cannot  reach  the  starry 
heights  without  long  and  patient  training.  The 


22  What  of  To-Day? 

most  daring  of  our  airmen  has  had  to  under- 
go an  arduous  and  wearisome  apprenticeship 
before  being  permitted  to  leave  the  earth  and 
soar,  like  a  bird,  into  the  stainless  blue.  For 
us,  too,  a  day  of  release  will  come,  when  if 
we  have  laboured  well,  we  shall  be  permitted 
to  exchange  the  monotony  of  our  training  here 
for  the  boundless  freedom  and  joy  of  the 
heavens.  And  if  we  fail  to  learn  our  lesson,  it 
will  be  our  own  folly  and  sloth  that  we  must 
blame. 

We  are  here,  then,  to  work,  to  realise  our 
mission,  to  make  some  return,  however  in- 
adequate, for  the  love  poured  forth  upon  us 
by  our  Father  and  Creator.  Not  for  us  is  that 
shallow  philosophy  which  would  persuade  us  that 
life  is  ours  to  do  with  it  as  we  please.  Let  us 
remember  that  in  the  exact  proportion  that  we 
forget  our  God,  so  do  we  approach  nearer  the 
frightful  ideal  of  the  diabolical  Superman.  And 
the  harder  we  find  it  to  escape  being  carried 
along  the  current  in  company  with  those  who 
are  only  living  for  the  passing  show  of  this  world, 
the  more  need  there  must  be  for  us  to  put  all 
our  faith  and  trust  in  the  strong  arm  of  Christ. 

"Come  to  me  all  ye  that  labour,"  said  Our 
Lord,  and  that  invitation  He  is  still  repeating 
to-day.  He  will  give  us  what  we  need.  He 
will  supply  us  with  a  strong  arm  on  which  to 
lean.  He  will  open  to  us  a  treasure-house  in 
His  heart  on  which  we  can  draw,  and  in  His 


\ 


The  Real  Superman  23 

countenance  we  shall  see  that  which  will  uplift 
us  and  inspire  us  with  an  ambition  commen- 
surate with  the  high  destiny  to  which  He  calls 
us. 

Not  long  since  a  man  called  upon  me  to  tell 
me  of  his  misfortunes.  He  was — or  had  been — 
one  of  fortune's  favourites,  who  had  never  had 
to  do  a  day's  work  in  his  life.  But  through  a 
stroke  of  hard  luck  he  had  lost  nearly  every 
penny  he  possessed.  He  told  me  his  tale,  and 
added,  "Father,  you  will  still  be  welcome  at 
my  table,  but  you  will  have  to  bring  with  you 
what  you  want  to  eat,  for  I  shall  only  be  able 
to  give  you  a  knife  and  fork." 

I  asked  him  what  he  was  going  to  do. 
"Going  to  do?'!  he  cried,  "I  am  going  to 
work.  The  gate  beyond  the  stars  is  not  shut 
yet.  As  long  as  the  gate  is  open  and  the 
Master  is  on  the  doorstep,  I  can  face  and 
push  through  my  troubles  and  difficulties." 
So,  with  the  energy  and  enterprise  of  a  true 
Englishman,  who  does  not  know  when  he  is 
beaten,  this  man,  instead  of  folding  his  arms 
and  bewailing  his  fate,  rose  upward  for  the 
first  time  in  his  life,  put  his  shoulder  to  the 
wheel,  and  now,  in  the  popular  phrase  of  the 
day,  he  is  "making  good."  Why?  Because, 
as  he  told  me  when  last  I  saw  him,  he  felt 
that  he  had  Christ  behind  him.  Trust  in  Jesus 
Christ,  that  is  the  whole  of  our  faith. 

"  Come    to     Me,     all    ye     that     are     heavy 


24  What  of  To-Day  ? 

burdened."  Burdened  !  We  are  all  burdened, 
and  at  the  present  moment  we  are  bearing  a 
heavier  burden  of  grief  and  anxiety  than,  per- 
haps, has  ever  been  our  lot  before.  Shall  we 
find  the  courage  and  strength  to  bear  that 
burden  in  ourselves  alone  ?  The  Superman 
pretends  that  he  can  do  so,  by  stripping  what 
he  calls  his  soul  of  every  kindly  human  emotion, 
of  all  sympathy  with  his  fellows,  of  every  feel- 
ing of  love  towards  God  or  his  neighbour. 
And  what  is  the  result  ?  Instead  of  becoming 
something  more  than  man,  instead  of  striking 
his  head  against  the  stars,  he  sinks  into  a  state 
which  is  below  that  of  the  brute  creation. 

It  is  only  by  leaning  upon  Christ  that  we 
can  reach  the  stature  of  the  true  Superman,  no 
matter  in  what  dustbin  of  the  world  we  are 
grovelling.  The  weakest  of  us  can  become 
more  than  a  match  for  the  super-beast,  if  we 
are  content  to  rely  on  the  divine  force  that  is 
freely  at  the  disposal  of  such  as  ask  for  its  help. 

"  For  what  are  men  better  than  sheep  or  goats 
That  nourish  a  blind  life  within  the  brain, 
If,  knowing  God,  they  lift  not  hands  of  prayer, 
Both  for  themselves  and  those  who  call  them  friend  ? 
For  so  the  whole  round  earth  is  every  way 
Bound  by  gold  chains  about  the  feet  of  God." 


That  is  the  secret  of  the  saint  —  the  power 
of  prayer.  What  resource  has  the  Nietzschean 
Superman  when  his  doctrine  of  brute  force 
fails?  Or  even  should  it,  for  a  time,  seem  to 


The  Real  Superman  25 

succeed,  what  can  his  "culture"  avail  him 
when  he  stands  face  to  face  with  an  outraged 
God? 

Why,  in  that  devastating  first  month  of  the 
war  when  the  Superman,  faithful  to  his  brutal 
creed,  was  carrying  fire  and  sword  through 
violated  Belgium,  and  wreaking  his  blind  rage 
on  innocent  women  and  children  ;  when, 
through  sheer  force  of  numbers,  he  was  driv- 
ing back  the  allied  armies  farther  and  farther 
into  France,  why,  in  those  dark  days,  were 
our  hearts  still  high,  why  were  we  still  so 
confident  that  our  cause  would  prevail?  Was 
it  not  because  our  consciences  were  clear, 
because,  in  other  words,  whatever  our  errors 
and  shortcomings  may  have  been,  we  still  put 
our  trust  in  the  God  of  Righteousness?  Many 
and  grievous  have  been  the  faults  of  this  nation 
in  the  past,  but  we  have  at  least  kept  our- 
selves free  from  that  worst  crime  of  all — the 
blasphemous  pretence  of  making  ourselves  the 
equals  of  God. 

The  knights  of  old  fought  not  the  less  stoutly 
because  their  faith  was  as  the  faith  of  little  child- 
ren. Nor  have  our  gallant  soldiers  and  sailors 
proved  themselves  any  the  less  brave  because 
they  can  feel  pity  for  a  fallen  foe,  and  because 
they  wage  no  war  on  helpless  women  and  babes 
in  arms. 

Ruthlessness  is  no  proof  of  courage,  nor  need 
we  wait  for  posterity  to  emphasise  the  difference 


26  What  of  To-Day? 

between  the  barbarous  spectacle  of  the  sacking 
of  Louvain  and  the  picture  of  our  sailors  rescu- 
ing their  drowning  enemies  under  the  fire  of 
the  German  guns. 

Manliness,  bravery  and  sportsmanlike  pluck 
we  can  all  admire  wherever  we  find  them,  and 
we  are  proud  to  acknowledge  the  fine  traits  of 
all  these  qualities  in  the  captain  of  the  Emden 
which,  for  many  weeks,  gave  us  so  many  sur- 
prises on  the  high  seas,  till  at  length  she  was 
herself  surprised,  and  her  little  games  of  hide- 
and-go-seek  were  finally  stopped  by  the  Aus- 
tralian cruiser  Sydney.  England  is  proud  to 
honour  a  foe  such  as  Captain  von  Miiller  of 
the  German  Navy. 


IV 
GOOD  OUT  OF  EVIL 

THERE  are  people,  short-sighted  perhaps,  but 
entirely  sincere,  who  are  so  impressed  with  the 
horror  of  warfare  that  they  have  come  to  regard 
war  as  the  worst  of  all  evils.  On  the  material 
side  they  point  to  the  physical  want  and  misery 
that  must  overtake  thousands  and  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  innocent  non-combatants ;  to  the 
financial  ruin  that  must  overwhelm  so  many 
hitherto  happy  and  peaceful  homes ;  to  the 
sorrow  and  grief  that  the  deaths  of  the  best  and 
most  vigorous  of  the  country's  manhood  must 
cause  to  those  who  are  left  behind.  On  the 
moral  side  there  are  even  stronger  arguments 
put  forward  against  war.  Those  who  are  actu- 
ally fighting,  it  is  maintained,  tend  to  become 
brutal  and  callous  by  the  habit  of  slaughter. 
Repelled  at  first  by  the  awful  scenes  of  bloodshed 
they  are  forced  to  witness,  their  higher  nature 
eventually  becomes  atrophied,  their  animal  in- 
stincts get  the  better  of  them,  and  they  finally 
degenerate  to  the  level  of  the  beasts  of  the  field 
which  know  neither  pity  nor  mercy. 

That  is  one  side  of  the  picture,  and  so  power- 

27 


28  What  of  To-Day? 

fully  does  it  appeal  to  a  certain  class  of  mind  that 
we  come  across  not  a  few  people  who  will  tell 
us  that  it  is  better  to  endure  anything  rather 
than  suffer  war  to  come,  and  that  nothing  can 
justify  one  nation  declaring  war  upon  another. 
'Peace  at  any  price"  is  their  motto,  and  per- 
haps they  are  to  be  pitied  rather  than  blamed 
for  their  one-sided  attitude.  For  hateful  as  war 
is,  terrible  as  are  its  material,  and  sometimes  its 
moral,  consequences,  we  must  not  make  the 
mistake  of  believing  it  to  be  always  criminal. 

War  is  an  evil — who  denies  it?  But  so  are 
many  other  things,  and  the  chief  of  these  is  sin. 
But  that  is  just  the  point,  the  peace  apologists 
will  eagerly  interrupt,  war  is  the  greatest  of  sins. 
So  it  may  be,  if  it  is  a  war  waged  for  no  other 
motive  than  ambition  or  aggression.  But  when 
the  choice  is  presented  to  a  nation  of  waging  a 
just  war  in  self-defence,  in  a  good  and  sacred 
cause,  or  of  giving  up  all  its  ideals  of  honour, 
of  courage,  and  of  righteousness,  would  it  not  be 
a  worse  sin  for  that  nation  to  refuse  the  gage 
of  battle  and  to  hold  aloof  in  a  cowardly  panic 
from  the  stricken  field  ? 

War,  I  repeat,  is  an  evil,  one  of  the  greatest 
of  evils,  but  like  any  other  evil,  if  it  be  met  in 
the  right  spirit,  much  good  may  come  of  it. 
Wellington  once  said  there  was  nothing  more 
appalling  in  war  than  victory,  except  defeat.  But 
if  the  horrors  of  war  are  not  to  be  denied,  war 
also  provides  opportunities  for  bringing  forth 


Good  Out  of  Evil  29 

much  that  is  best  and  noblest  in  man's  nature.  I 
am  not  only  thinking  now  of  the  bravery  that 
may  be  shown  in  battle,  or  even  of  the  small 
things  we  at  home  can  do,  the  little  sacrifices 
we  can  make  to  help  those  who  are  fighting  far 
away  at  the  front.  These  things  we  take  as  a 
matter  of  course,  and  if  we  could  not  count  on 
them  we  should  indeed  be  a  decaying  nation, 
morally  and  in  every  other  way. 

But  greater  benefit  can  and  should  be  ex- 
tracted from  a  war  such  as  we  have  been  forced 
into  than  a  mere  temporary  exaltation  of  the 
emotional  side  of  our  nature.  While  this  war 
lasts  we  may  fight  valiantly,  we  may  endure 
steadfastly,  we  may  suffer  all  things  with  patience, 
so  that,  when  the  end  comes,  we  may  have  the 
right  to  claim  that  we  have  quitted  ourselves  like 
men.  That  will  be  something  to  our  credit  and 
to  the  credit  of  our  great  Empire.  But  it  will 
not  be  enough.  It  is  when  the  war  is  finished, 
when  we  have  fought  through  to  .victory,  that 
the  test  will  come.  For  it  is  then  that  we  shall 
have  to  show,  by  an  altered  mode  of  life,  by  an 
altogether  worthier  practice  of  ideals,  that  in  the 
fire  of  battle  the  dross  has  been  shaken  out  of 
the  gold,  and  that  we  have  awakened  to  a  real 
and  lasting  knowledge  of  the  relative  value  of 
the  things  that  are  prized  by  the  world. 

Let  us  admit  that  for  the  moment,  and  under 
the  stress  and  strain  of  a  great  crisis,  we  are  doing 
our  duty,  and  shall  continue  to  do  our  duty, 


30  What  of  To-Day? 

splendidly,  gloriously,  while  the  crisis  lasts.  But 
when  the  stress  is  over,  when  the  strain  is  relaxed, 
then  will  come  the  temptation  to  fall  back  into 
the  old  habits,  the  old  thoughts,  the  old  careless- 
ness, to  forget  the  Power  that  sustained  us  during 
the  struggle,  and  to  become  more  than  ever 
immersed  in  selfish  schemes  of  personal  success. 

Thus  if  we  hope  to  extract  good  from  evil,  we 
must  look  to  it  that,  when  the  war  is  ended,  there 
must  be  no  sinking  back  into  a  comfortable 
slumber.  It  will  not  do  for  us  to  breathe  a  sigh 
of  relief  at  the  thought  that  we  have  done  our 
duty  and  that  there  are  no  further  duties  await- 
ing us.  For  it  is  then  that  we  shall  most  need 
to  keep  alive  the  spirit  of  brotherhood  and  of 
altruism  which,  I  venture  to  think,  the  war 
has,  for  the  moment  at  least,  evoked,  to  our 
own  legitimate  pride,  the  admiration  of  the 
world. 

There  are  many  wrongs  which  need  right- 
ing in  this  fair  land  of  ours.  To  some  of  them  I 
have  referred  in  the  following  pages.  The  war 
has  already  produced  many  examples  of  Christian 
charity,  of  brotherly  kindness,  of  self-sacrifice  and 
of  devotion  to  duty.  It  has  dissipated,  as  per- 
haps nothing  else  could  have  dissipated,  the  antag- 
onism of  classes,  it  has  drawn  together  men  of 
all  parties  and  all  creeds ;  and  it  has,  I  rejoice  to 
believe,  taught  many  to  understand  something 
of  their  dependence  upon  a  higher  Power. 
These  things  are  all  to  the  good,  but  to  be  of 


Good  Out  of  Evil  31 

any  value  they  must  be  permanent.  The  spirit 
that  has  hushed  party  strife,  that  has  silenced 
the  Suffragette,  that  has  taught  the  Socialist 
wisdom  —  is  this  spirit  to  flicker  out  when 
the  booming  of  the  guns  no  longer  sounds  in 
our  ears  ? 

I  trust  not.  I  hope  not.  But  it  is  a  matter 
that  has  got  to  be  faced,  and  it  should  be  faced 
now,  in  this  time  of  national  peril.  It  is  not  my 
wish  to  underrate  the  qualities  that,  as  a  nation, 
we  have  shown  in  our  day  of  trial.  But  we  must 
beware  of  slipping  back  when  the  danger  is  past. 
We  must  be  on  our  guard  against  false  pride, 
which  is  one  of  the  deadliest  of  sins.  Nor  must 
we  yield  to  the  temptation  of  feeling  that,  having 
shown  ourselves  equal  to  the  occasion,  nothing 
more  is  reasonably  to  be  expected  of  us. 

Our  real  mission  will  only  then  be  beginning. 
God  asks  us  to  give  Him  of  our  best  no  less  in 
peace  than  in  war,  in  times  of  prosperity  as  well 
as  in  times  of  adversity.  Let  us  not  forget  that 
it  is  often  easier  to  be  courageous  in  face  of  a 
sudden  emergency  than  to  do  our  duty  consist- 
ently throughout  the  monotonous  daily  round. 
As  it  is  with  individuals,  so  it  is  with  nations. 
We  have  faced — and  we  are  facing — this  inter- 
national crisis  with  stout  hearts  and  with  all 
that  is  best  in  us.  And  I  doubt  not  we  shall  find 
strength  to  endure  nobly  and  generously  till 
the  end.  But  when  that  peril  is  past  —  and 
God  grant  it  may  not  be  too  long  drawn-out 


32  What  of  To-Day  ? 

— we  shall  be  faced  with  the  equally  pressing 
duty  of  putting  our  own  house  in  order.  That 
duty,  indeed,  has  always  been  waiting  perform- 
ance. But  never  shall  we  have  such  a  golden 
opportunity  of  accomplishing  it  as  that  which, 
if  all  goes  well,  will  be  granted  us  in  the  not 
distant  future. 

It  is  that  day  which  we  should  try  to  bear 
in  mind.  It  is  that  day  to  which  we  should  be 
looking,  not  altogether  as  a  welcome  end  to  our 
present  troubles,  but  as  the  beginning  of  a  new 
era  in  our  social  relations,  the  new  dawn  of  a 
finer  national  life,  the  new  age  of  freedom  and 
truth,  a  new  chapter  in  the  story  of  religion. 
If  the  war  shall  have  aroused  us  to  a  confession 
of  our  own  past  shortcomings  in  this  respect 
and  to  a  firm  determination  to  remedy  them  in 
the  future,  it  will,  I  venture  to  affirm,  have 
done  us  more  good  than  a  hundred  years  of 
peace.  May  it  bring  us  peace,  lasting  peace, 
with  God,  with  our  neighbour,  with  ourselves. 


WAR  AND  RELIGION 

BEFORE  the  war  came,  many  people  were  very 
busy  proclaiming  that  whoever  ventured  to  hint 
at  the  possibility  of  a  German  invasion  was  a 
false  prophet,  an  alarmist ;  they  all  knew  better 
than  he  did  that  war  never  would,  and  never 
could,  come.  Apart  from  those  who  argued 
on  economic  grounds,  on  which  I  do  not  pre- 
tend to  be  an  authority,  the  chief  reason 
advanced  for  the  impossibility  of  war  ever 
again  being  waged  on  the  Napoleonic  scale 
seems  to  have  been  that  such  a  war  would  be 
too  brutal  and  too  appalling  to  be  tolerated  by 
an  advanced  civilisation  like  ours.  It  would 
be  "unthinkable."  Well,  so  it  is  "unthink- 
able" in  one  sense,  but,  for  all  that,  it  has 
come,  and  the  fallacy  of  believing  that  it  never 
could  come  lay  in  the  meaning  we  attach  to 
the  words  "civilisation"  and  "culture." 

We  have  talked  so  much  and  written  at 
such  length  about  this  wonderful  modern 
civilisation  of  ours  that,  I  verily  believe,  most 
of  us  have  been  persuaded,  or  have  persuaded 
ourselves,  that  the  human  race  has  really  reached 
D  33 


34  What  of  To-Day? 

a  moral  and  intellectual  altitude  hitherto  un- 
attained  in  the  history  of  mankind.  The  fact 
of  the  matter  is  that  our  "  progress,"  to  use 
another  cant  phrase  of  the  day,  has  been 
very  largely  of  a  material  description.  Thanks 
chiefly  to  the  scientific  discoveries  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  life  has  been  made  far 
more  comfortable  and  luxurious  for  us  than  at 
any  previous  period,  and  so  we  have  been  led, 
by  a  sort  of  false  analogy,  to  believe  that  we 
are  as  superior,  on  the  moral  side  as  on  the 
material,  to  all  the  past  civilisations  of  which 
we  have  any  record. 

Perhaps  the  humble  searching  of  heart  which 
the  war  must  surely  produce  in  the  national 
conscience  may  help  us  to  realise  the  great  fact 
that  human  nature  changes  but  little  from  age 
to  age,  and  that  the  greatest  material  prosperity 
is  no  sure  guarantee  of  a  correspondingly  con- 
spicuous morality.  Elsewhere  in  this  book  I 
have  emphasised  the  point  that  all  reform, 
whether  social  or  moral,  must  start  with  the 
individual,  and  in  the  same  way  I  would  here 
urge  my  readers  to  remember  that  a  civilisation 
can  only  be  called  great  or  splendid,  in  the 
true  sense  of  the  words,  precisely  in  proportion 
to  the  right  thinking  and  the  right  living  of  the 
individuals  composing  it. 

This  notion  that  a  European  war  was  an 
impossibility  was  somewhat  on  a  par  with  that 
other  fallacy,  that  you  can  make  people  good 


War  and  Religion  35 

in  the  bulk  by  Acts  of  Parliament,  and  that 
morality  is  something  distinct  from  religion. 
When  we  are  all  angels,  war,  without  doubt, 
will  disappear  from  the  earth.  So  will  every 
other  crime  and  vice  which  now  disfigures  our 
erring  humanity.  But,  believe  me,  civilisation 
alone  will  never  effect  this  miracle.  On  the 
contrary,  civilisation  —  alas,  that  it  should  be 
so !  —  tends  to  make  men  more  and  not  less 
vicious,  more  and  not  less  inclined  to  pur- 
sue the  pleasures  and  grip  the  prizes  of  the 
world. 

I  have  frequently  come  across  people 
holding  the  comfortable  theory  that  a  Christian 
civilisation  cannot  possibly  be  permitted  by  the 
Almighty  to  pass  away  as  the  old  heathen 
empires  passed  away.  Such  people  can  have 
studied  history  to  little  purpose  if  they  really 
believe  that  Christianity  depends  upon  civilisa- 
tion, or  that  because  a  nation  dubs  itself 
Christian,  it  has  thereby  a  vague  claim  to 
immunity  against  the  attacks  of  a  vigorous 
enemy.  The  Church  of  Christ  cannot  perish — 
we  have  the  words  of  Our  Lord  that  even  the 
gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  her — but 
we  have  no  guarantee  that  civilisation,  as  we 
know  it,  may  not  be  utterly  wiped  out,  leaving 
no  trace  behind.  The  conversion  of  Rome  to 
Christianity  did  not  save  that  mighty  Empire 
from  falling  before  the  onset  of  the  Goths  and 
the  Vandals,  nor  did  Christendom  in  the  Middle 


36  What  of  To-Day? 

Ages  always  wage  a  very  successful  war  against 
the  hosts  of  Islam. 

The  true  Christian  gives  of  his  best  to  God, 
but  he  does  not  expect  to  be  paid  by  God  in 
this  world's  coin.  And  if  adversity  comes  his 
way,  whether  on  a  large  or  small  scale,  he 
welcomes  it  as  an  opportunity  for  his  spiritual 
advancement,  not  as  a  reason  for  reproaching 
his  Creator  for  withholding  His  blessings.  Job 
is  an  example  of  the  way  in  which  the  devout 
Christian  should  meet  the  reverses  of  fortune, 
and  the  man  who,  professing  Christianity,  is  not 
prepared  to  submit  patiently  to  the  will  of  God 
in  all  things,  has  not  yet  learned  the  true  mean- 
ing of  his  religion. 

When  the  whole  world  has  become  Christian 
in  thought  and  act  as  well  as  in  name,  when, 
that  is  to  say,  each  individual  is  striving  to  act 
up  to  the  fine  ideals  put  before  us  by  Our 
Lord,  then  and  then  only  shall  we  have  a  right 
to  think  of  war  as  impossible.  It  comes,  there- 
fore, to  this,  that  we  must,  each  one  of  us, 
strive  whole-heartedly  and  with  full  endeavour 
to  lead  truly  Christian  lives,  not  only  for  our 
own  sakes,  but  for  the  sake  of  the  world  at 
large.  Only  in  this  way,  and  not  by  any  loud 
talk  about  the  Christianity  of  the  age,  can  we 
really  hope  to  make  the  Christian  spirit  alive 
and  vigorous. 

The  fashion,  then,  of  denouncing  war  as 
a  crime  against  civilisation,  against  culture, 


War  and  Religion  37 

against  modern  humanitarianism,  is  futile  and 
meaningless.  War  may  be,  nay,  it  undoubtedly 
is.  an  offence  against  these  things.  But  this  is 
not  the  chief  or  the  real  reason  why,  as  the 
Peace  Society  resolutions  say,  it  "  ought  to  be 
abolished."  Before  you  can  abolish  war,  you 
must  abolish  the  equally  detestable  things  that 
are  done  every  day  in  times  of  peace,  you  must 
set  the  foundations  of  society  firmly  and 
securely  upon  the  rock  of  religion,  and  you 
must  teach  every  child  to  know  and  recognise 
that  there  are  greater  things  in  life  than  the 
pursuit  of  material  profit. 

Let  us  clear  our  minds,  then,  of  the  stupid 
fallacy  that  civilisation  or  culture  can  of  them- 
selves ever  prevent  or  abolish  war.  Christ- 
ianity alone  can  do  that.  And  if  I  am  asked 
why  it  has  not  succeeded  in  doing  so  during 
the  last  thousand  years,  my  answer  is  that  the 
fault  is  to  be  found  not  in  Christianity,  but 
in  the  frailty  of  poor  human  nature.  Such  a 
statement  will,  I  know,  be  unwelcome  to  those 
who  have  got  into  the  habit  of  denying  the 
inherent  sinfulness  of  mankind,  who  believe 
that  intellect  is  a  sufficient  substitute  for  religion, 
and  who  affirm  that  a  purely  ethical  ideal  can 
be  constructed  on  a  non-spiritual  basis.  Such 
people  will  say  that  this  is  pessimism,  pure  and 
simple,  and  shows  too  profound  a  disbelief  in  the 
possibilities  of  human  nature.  To  which  one 
can  only  reply  that  human  nature,  unaided  by  the 


38  What  of  To-Day  ? 

Divine,  never  progresses  very  far  along  any  but 
the  most  grossly  material  lines.  All  that  civi- 
lisation, divorced  from  religion,  can  do  in  the 
way  of  averting  or  abolishing  war,  is  to  breed 
a  race  which  will  never  have  the  hardihood  to 
fight  for  its  existence,  and  which,  preferring 
its  own  ease  and  comfort  to  all  considerations 
of  honour  and  freedom,  must  inevitably  decay 
and  perish  of  its  own  inherent  vices. 

Whether  war  will,  in  the  distant  future, 
ever  be  banished  from  this  earth  it  is  not  for 
me  to  prophesy.  But  I  make  bold  to  say  that, 
before  you  can  abolish  war,  you  will  have  to 
abolish  sin,  you  will  have  to  recognise  that 
civilisation  is  not  a  matter  of  culture  alone,  and 
you  will  have  so  to  order  affairs  that  vice  and 
crime  of  every  description  shall  be  utterly  rooted 
out  of  men's  lives.  Is  that  an  impossibility? 
It  may  be.  But  it  is  a  condition  precedent  to 
the  abolition  of  war. 

Let  us  cease  from  arming,  say  some,  and 
war  will  automatically  stop.  But  armaments 
are  an  effect,  not  a  cause.  If  I  know  that 
armed  burglars  are  prowling  round  my  house, 
ready  to  attack  me  at  the  earliest  opportunity 
and  with  the  avowed  intention  of  shooting 
at  sight,  prudence  demands  that  I  should 
purchase  a  revolver  in  self-defence.  I  may,  it 
is  true,  hope  to  convert  the  burglars  before  the 
worst  comes  to  the  worst,  but  meanwhile  I 
must  make  ready  to  repel  them  by  force,  for 


War  and  Religion  39 

arguments  alone  may  not  turn  them  from  their 
purpose.  If  universal  disarmament  ever  comes 
by  consent,  we  shall  be  justified  in  rejoicing, 
not  on  account  of  the  fact  itself,  but  because 
it  will  be  an  indication  that  the  peoples  of  the 
world  will  have  reached  a  frame  of  mind  per- 
mitting them  to  lay  aside  their  mutual  fears 
and  jealousies.  Talk  of  a  general  disarmament, 
therefore,  is  idle  till  religion  has  done  its  work. 
And  since  religion  acts  on  nations  through 
individuals,  we  come  back  to  the  same  point, 
namely,  that  it  is  by  individual  effort  alone  that 
the  world  can  be  regenerated. 

But  though  it  is  difficult  to  imagine  a  world 
without  war,  just  as  it  is  difficult  to  imagine  a 
world  without  sin  and  sorrow  and  suffering, 
we  must  not  fall  into  the  opposite  error  of 
believing  that  war  is  a  necessary  evil.  Few  evils 
in  the  world  are  necessary.  Man's  free  will  may 
be  exerted  towards  abolishing  all  sin,  all  crime, 
and  all  evil  just  as  readily  as  it  is  now,  alas !  so 
often  used  in  promoting  them.  It  is  for  us  to 
strive  towards  the  Ideal,  even  though  we  may 
never  in  this  world  win  to  the  vision  of  the 
Holy  Grail.  And  this  lesson  at  least  let  us 
hope  the  war  will  bring  home  to  us  —  that 
the  closer  we  cling  to  Christ,  the  more  faith- 
fully we  obey  His  precepts  and  the  more  un- 
falteringly we  follow  in  His  footsteps,  the 
nearer  we  shall  get  to  that  great  conception 
of  Universal  Brotherhood  which  He  was  never 


40  What  of  To-Day  ? 

tired  of  preaching  to  His  disciples  and  to  the 
world. 

Do  not  let  us,  with  history,  sacred  and 
profane,  before  our  eyes,  condemn  all  warfare 
as  unjust  and  unnecessary.  While  we  recognise 
that  war  is  a  cleansing  fire,  out  of  which  good 
often  comes,  let  us  not  forget  that  also  out  of 
plague  and  pestilence,  pit  disasters  and  railway 
accidents  God  often  draws  good.  But  we  do 
not,  in  consequence,  pray  that  these  calamities 
may  happen.  On  the  contrary,  in  the  great 
Litany,  we  pray  to  be  delivered  from  them. 
That  prayer  will  not  be  lost.  In  the  event  of 
it  not  averting  the  calamity,  it  will  win  us  the 
grace  and  strength  of  bearing  up  under  it  as 
sons  of  God. 


VI 
"A  SCRAP  OF  PAPER" 

SOME  of  my  friends  on  this  and  on  the  other  side 
of  the  Atlantic  write  asking  me  if  Christianity  has 
collapsed  altogether  that  we  should  be  witnessing 
in  the  centre  of  so-called  Christian  civilisation 
wholesale  murder,  wanton  vandalism  and  fiendish 
atrocities?  "The  sights  presented  to  us  to-day 
in  Europe,"  they  contend,  "just  strip  the  Churches 
and  their  ministers  of  all  spiritual  significance." 
They  ask :  * '  Upon  what  plea  and  with  what  excuse 
do  you  followers  of  Jesus,  meek  and  humble  of 
heart,  unsheath  your  sword,  when  He  bade  Peter 
fling  his  aside  even  when  it  was  drawn  in  the  de- 
fence of  his  Master?"  I  answer:  "One  cannot 
argue  from  the  Gospel  in  favour  of  peace  anymore 
than  in  support  of  war.  The  Son  of  Man  came 
with  a  sword,  as  well  as  with  peace  to  men  of 
goodwill.  He  came  to  establish  the  reign  of 
justice,  to  which  peace  may  be  a  hindrance  and 
war  a  help,  such  is  human  perversity.  We  must 
look  to  the  causes  which  have  led  up  to  the 
world-war  before  we  can  justify  one  side  or  the 
other  engaged  in  a  life-and-death  struggle." 
When  an  armed  burglar  breaks  into  your  own 

41 


42  What  of  To-Day? 

or  your  neighbour's  house  you  have  every  right, 
though  you  profess  to  be  a  Christian,  to  repel  him, 
even  should  you  by  so  doing  slay  him  in  his 
wanton  aggression.  And  should  you  be  assailed 
on  a  journey  by  a  highway  robber  you  would  in- 
deed be  made  of  poor  and  paltry  stuff  were  you 
to  yield  to  his  demand:  "Your  money  or  your 
life  !  "  No,  as  a  man  and  a  Christian  you  would 
fight  for  your  own,  nor  would  you  feel  any  qualm 
of  conscience  if  in  the  hand-to-hand  encounter 
your  aggressor  lost  his  life. 

What  is  ethically  right  in  the  case  of  an  indi- 
vidual defending  himself  against  an  aggressor  is 
equally  justified  when  the  case  is  transferred  from 
the  unit  to  the  State  made  up  of  units.  The 
State  has  a  right,  nay  a  duty,  to  defend  her  auto- 
nomy, integrity,  and  independence  against  any 
armed  force  that  uses  its  strength  to  invade  its 
territory  and  to  sack  and  burn  it.  It  must  repel 
forceby  force  or  else  fail  in  its  mission  as 
the  safeguard  of  the  temporal  interests  of  its 
members. 

You  ask  me  :  Why  are  the  Allies  now  at  war, 
or,  more  particularly,  why  is  peace-loving,  law- 
abiding  England  armed  as  never  she  was  before  ? 
Well,  Germany  would  say  we  were  fighting  on 
account  of  "a  scrap  of  paper,"  and  that  our  only 
motive  for  doing  so  was  envy  of  her  and  of  her 
place  in  the  sun.  Freely  I  acknowledge  it  was 
"a scrap  of  paper  "  which  cast  the  die  and  caused 
the  declaration  of  war  upon  Germany.  But  for- 


"A  Scrap  of  Paper"          43 

get  not  that  while  ua  scrap  of  paper"  may  be 
less  than  nothing  it  may  also  be  more  than  words 
can  measure.  "A  scrap  of  paper,"  bearing  my  sig- 
nature, may  give  away  all  I  possess  ;  "a  scrap  of 
paper"  with  the  Bank  of  England  at  its  back 
may  entitle  me  to  draw  a  million  pounds  sterling 
across  its  counter  ;  "a  scrap  of  paper"  with  the 
name  of  England  emblazoned  on  it  may  stand  for 
more  than  all  her  wealth,  and  all  her  possessions 
— it  may  stand  for  her  word  of  honour.  England's 
word  is  her  bond.  You  may  call  the  Charter  of 
our  liberties  "a  scrap  of  paper,"  you  may  say 
the  great  American  Constitution  is  only  "a  scrap 
of  paper,"  nay,  that  the  Gospel  itself  is  only  "a 
scrap  of  paper."  But  what  if  that  scrap  of  paper 
be  a  nation's  bond,  or  the  Word  of  God?  Make 
no  mistake  about  it,  an  international  treaty  with 
Britain's  signature  to  it  can  be  regarded  in  one 
light  only,  as  a  vital  and  sacred  contract.  After 
the  contract  of  marriage  I  can  conceive  of  none 
other  more  binding,  solemn  and  sacred  than 
such  a  treaty. 

What  was  this  particular  treaty  for  which  the 
right  place  according  to  Germany  was  the  waste- 
paper  basket  ?  It  was  a  contract  signed  in  1839, 
and  confirmed  in  1870,  guaranteeing  the  neutral- 
ity of  Belgium.  Prussia,  France  and  England 
lent  their  names  to  this  scrap  of  paper,  and 
pledged  their  word  to  abide  by  its  provisions  and 
observe  its  terms.  Behold  here  the  sort  of  "  scrap 
of  paper"  for  which  England  was  prepared  to  go 


44  What  of  To-Day? 

to  war.  Belgium  relied  on  that  scrap  of  paper 
for  her  security  and  independence.  France  re- 
lied on  it  as  a  strong  rampart  on  her  northern 
frontier,  and  England  relied  on  it  as  her  friends' 
guarantee  making  for  lasting  peace  with  indus- 
trial progress.  It  was  unthinkable  that  Germany 
would  have  dreamt  of  tearing  up  a  treaty  to 
which  she  had  put  her  signature,  and  it  was 
impossible  for  England  to  believe  that  she 
herself  could  be  asked  to  look  on  with  folded 
arms  while  Prussian  troops  were  invading  Bel- 
gium's neutral  territory;  because  forsooth  it  hap- 
pened to  be  the  nearest  way  for  them  to  reach 
Paris.  Yet,  before  diplomatists  could  debate 
the  question,  the  Kaiser's  columns  had  already 
crossed  the  border,  on  their  way,  as  they  thought, 
to  haul  down  the  tricolour  in  the  French  capital. 
Under  the  circumstances  was  there  any  way  but 
one  for  England  to  act,  was  there  open  to  her 
any  course  but  the  one  which  without  flinching 
she  actually  did  take  ?  England  declared  war  on 
Germany  because  consistently  with  her  word  of 
honour  and  code  of  morality  she  could  do  no- 
thing else.  Let  anyone  who  calls  her  action  in 
question  read  the  White  Paper.  After  perusing 
that  diplomatic  correspondence  you  arrive  at  one 
conclusion  only — that  England  was  quite  as 
keenly  bent  on  peace  as  Germany  was  determined 
on  war.  How  could  England  stab  gallant  little 
Belgium  in  the  back,  how  could  she  come  to 
terms  with  the  Prussian  War-Lord  who  wanted 


45 

to  strike  a  bargain  with  us,  and  actually  did  make 
us  an  "infamous  proposal "  !  Had  England  acted 
otherwise  than  she  did,  not  only  would  she  have 
been  scorned  and  condemned  by  the  whole  civil- 
ised world  as  a  cringing  coward,  a  word-breaker 
and  a  traitor  to  her  friends,  but  she  herself  would 
have  been  conscious  that  her  treacherous  conduct 
had  deserved  every  drop  of  the  vitriol  poured  out 
upon  her. 

Thank  God,  England  rose  to  the  occasion, 
counted  the  cost,  and  resolved  that,  even  should 
her  treasury  of  gold  and  of  men  be  spilt  and  ex- 
hausted in  the  terrible  struggle,  she  would  fight  for 
honour,  truth  and  freedom  to  the  end.  From  one 
end  of  the  Empire  to  the  other  the  cry  went  forth: 
"  With  God's  help  we  will  fight  this  war.  to  the 
finish,  we  shall  see  it  out  to  the  end."  England's 
sword  has  been  drawn  in  a  sacred  cause ;  ours  is  a 
crusade  against  an  insolent  and  aggressive  foe  who, 
if  he  is  determined  to  reset  the  map  of  Europe  and 
to  reconstruct  the  nations  thereof,  may  rest  assured 
that  we  too  are  equally  determined  to  resist  him  to 
the  last.  We  pray  that  out  of  this  world-wide  war, 
black  as  night,  there  may  arise  the  dawn  of  a  day 
promising  the  cessation  of  colossal  armaments  by 
land  and  sea,  and  in  their  stead  the  advent  of  an 
era  of  Christian  peace  for  the  Christian  peoples  of 
Europe.  Nothing  but  a  war  such  as  this  in  which 
the  nations  of  Europe  are  now  engaged  can  bring 
peace  to  its  people  who,  for  the  past  generation, 
have  been  menaced  by  a  foe  who  declares  it  is 


46  What  of  To-Day? 

Prussia's  mission  to  Pan-Germanise  the  world. 
Just  as  Belgium  stood  in  Prussia's  way  to  Paris,  so 
England  stands  in  her  way  to  world-conquest. 
England  must  either  get  out  of  the  way  or  be  got 
out  of  the  way  for  the  Prussian  forces,  whose  rally- 
ing cry  is  :  "  World  dominion  or  death !  " 

No  man  can  read  Nietzsche  or  Treitschke  or 
Bernhardi  and  any  longer  doubt  what  this  terrible 
war  means.  It  means  a  life-and-death  struggle 
against  Prussian  domination,  Prussian  religion 
and  Prussian  civilisation.  In  Cramb's  lectures 
on  Germany  and  England,  which  are  the  best 
commentary  on  Bernhardi's  exposition  of  Ger- 
many's aims  and  ambitions,  we  are  told  that 
German  professors  and  German  generals  and 
German  ministers  of  the  new  religion  are  united 
in  their  determination  to  set  up  a  world-empire 
inspired  with  a  world-religion — the  religion  of 
valour,  with  brute-force  for  its  gospel.  "And 
what  is  the  religion,"  asks  the  Professor  of  Modern 
History,  "which,  on  the  whole,  may  be  charac- 
terised as  the  religion  of  the  most  earnest  and 
fashionable  minds  of  young  Germany  ?  What  is 
this  new  movement  ?  The  movement,  the  govern- 
ing idea  ....  is  the  wrestle  of  the  German 
intellect  not  only  against  Rome  but  against 
Christianity  itself.  Germany  at  least  shall  not 
confront  the  twentieth  century  and  its  thronging 
vicissitudes  as  the  worshipper  of  an  alien  God, 
thrall  of  an  alien  morality.  Her  war-god  shall 
be  Odin,  not  Christ.  Ye  have  heard  men  say, 


"A  Scrap  of  Paper "          47 

Blessed  are  the  peacemakers  :  but  I  say  unto  you, 
Blessed  are  the  war-makers,  for  they  shall  be 
called,  if  not  the  children  of  Jahve,  the  children 
of  Odin,  who  is  greater  than  Jahve." 

I  might  continue  to  cite  passages  from  this 
modern  school  dominating  Prussian  thought,  but 
I  have  said  more  than  enough  to  show  what  kind 
of  brute-force  we  are  up  against  in  this  slaughter- 
house war.  As  brute-force  is  the  antithesis  of 
moral-force,  so  are  the  Prussian  and  the  Allies' 
interests  opposed  each  to  each. 

Far  be  it  from  me  to  imply  that  the  whole  of 
the  German  race  is  inspired  by  Prussian  aims  and 
ambitions.  The  Catholics  of  Germany,  the 
Catholics  of  the  Rhine  provinces,  of  Bavaria, 
Westphalia  and  Prussia  itself  are  surely,  among 
the  children  of  the  Church,  the  most  thorough 
in  their  Christian  principles,  and  the  best  in- 
structed and  most  devout.  Them  we  admire  and 
reverence  for  their  loyalty  and  all  that  makes  up 
Christian  heroes  and  heroines.  They,  indeed, 
have  our  sympathy,  for  we  recognise  that  to 
them,  if  they  ever  hear  of  them,  must  be  abhorrent 
the  methods  of  warfare  with  with  their  soldiers 
are  associated.  Dropping  down  from  the  heavens 
above  bombs  that  strike  unoffending  citizens 
and  shatter  their  dwellings,  and  sowing  with 
infernal  mines  the  neutral  seas,  are  methods 
of  procedure  which  call  for  the  condemnation 
of  the  whole  Christian  world.  Nor  can  any 
sane  person  condone  the  wanton  destruction 


48  What  of  To-Day? 

of  Louvain  University,  or  the  shelling  and  de- 
facing of  Rheims  Cathedral.  These  arc  crimes 
crying  to  heaven  for  vengeance,  they  are  crimes 
against  history  and  posterity,  as  well  as  against  the 
Christian  dispensation  of  Christ  Our  Lord.  Be- 
side this,  Germany,  with  its  barbarism,  atrocities, 
and  incendiarism,  which  has  "disguised  fair 
nature  with  hard-favoured  rage,"  there  is  the 
Germany  of  music,  of  culture,  of  science,  of 
art,  and  of  life  pastoral  and  devotional.  We 
distinguish  carefully  between  the  two  sections 
of  the  same  community — we  love  the  one  as 
much  as  we  hate  the  other. 

At  present  our  sword  is  drawn  against  the 
Germany  under  the  sway  of  the  Nietzsche  and 
Treitschke  school  of  philosophy,  against  the  Ger- 
many of  blood  and  iron,  savagery  and  barbarism. 
We  arc  united  with  our  Allies  to  save  Christian 
civilisation  from  the  fate  of  Louvain  and  Rheims 
— to  protect  our  homes  and  universities  from  fall- 
ing a  prey  to  the  vandalism  of  these  modern  Van- 
dals and  Huns.  We  look  up  and  around,  and  as  we 
see  our  island  home  girdled  with  its  cathedrals, 
abbeys  and  minsters,  our  thoughts  instinctively 
turn  to  what  would  happen  to  these  temples  of 
Peace  were  they  to  be  exposed  to  a  fate  such  as 
has  ruined  one  of  Christendom's  most  cherished 
shrines.  Away  with  such  nightmares,  they  must 
not  even  be  dreamt  of  in  one's  wildest  dreams. 
On  the  contrary,  let  us  look  forward  to  the  day 
when  this  world-encounter  will  be  at  an  end,  when 


"A  Scrap  of  Paper"          49 

Europe  shall  wake  up  to  feel  once  more  that  she 
may  breathe  and  dwell  in  an  atmosphere  of  peace, 
when  monster  armaments  shall  be  like  a  bad 
dream,  with  no  further  reality,  when  the  Allied 
Forces  will  be  able  to  guarantee  autonomy,  in- 
tegrity and  independence  to  small  states  that  had 
been  forced  to  surrender  their  freedom  at  the 
dictation  of  tyrant  forces  astride  Europe  and 
dominating  it. 

Can  you  conceive  a  nobler  work  than  that  to 
which  we  find  ourselves,  under  the  providence  of 
God,  committed  ?  What  loftier  or  holier  mission 
can  there  be  on  this  earth  than  to  protect  the 
weak  against  the  strong,  to  uphold  truth  and 
honour  against  falsehood  and  slander,  and  to 
build  up  once  again  with  Christ  and  for  Christ,  on 
the  ruins  of  barbarism  and  savagery,  His  saving 
civilisation  ? 

Of  course,  we  do  not  expect  the  German 
people  to  take  the  same  view  as  ourselves  of  the 
present  terrible  situation,  they  no  doubt  consider 
we  are  as  wrong  as  we  are  persuaded  we  are  right 
in  our  verdict  on  the  war.  We  give  them  credit 
for  their  estimate  of  the  present  state  of  affairs, 
but  this  will  not  absolve  us  from  the  solemn 
and  sacred  duty  of  placing  before  our  readers 
England's  justification  for  engaging  in  a  war 
which  is  turning  our  dear  icountry  into  a  house 
of  mourning. 


VII 
THE  RED  CROSS 

AT  the  best  of  times  this  world  is  very  largely 
a  battlefield,  whereon  mankind  is  ceaselessly 
waging  war  against  suffering,  disease,  and  death. 
And  at  a  moment  like  the  present,  there  is  no 
need  to  draw  out  the  analogy,  and  our  hearts  are 
stricken  with  anguish  as  the  long  lists  of  the  dead 
and  wounded  bear  grim  witness  to  the  dreadful 
reality  of  the  metaphor,  we  owe  a  special  debt 
of  gratitude  to  those  brave  non-combatants 
who  are  fighting  under  the  flag  of  the  Red 
Cross. 

War  does  not  lessen,  it  only  increases,  their 
work  of  mercy.  And  for  my  part  I  feel  that, 
deeply  grateful  as  we  all  must  be  to  those  heroic 
souls  who  tend  our  wounded  and  soothe  the  last 
moments  of  our  dying  soldiers,  we  do  not  suffi- 
ciently realise  the  full  immensity  of  our  obliga- 
tions to  them.  In  a  time  of  national  stress, 
it  seems  natural  that  each  of  us  should  take 
our  share  in  lightening  the  burden  that  lies 
heavily  on  the  shoulders  of  all.  There  are  plenty 
of  willing  workers,  anxious  to  do  all  in  their 
power  to  help.  But — and  this  is  the  point  I 

50 


The  Red  Cross  51 

wish  to  emphasise — the  measure  of  our  useful- 
ness is  limited  by  the  degree  to  which  we  have 
trained  ourselves  to  be  ready  against  the  ap- 
pointed day.  To  the  Red  Cross  workers,  there- 
fore, our  thanks  are  due,  not  merely  or  even 
chiefly  for  the  patience,  the  readiness,  and  the 
devotion  with  which  they  tend  and  nurse  our 
wounded  soldiers  back  to  health,  but  far  more 
for  the  self-sacrifice  they  have  shown  in  devoting 
their  lives  beforehand  to  the  hard  and  rigid  dis- 
cipline, the  long  hours  of  severe  training,  with- 
out which  they  could  never  have  become  com- 
petent to  perform  that  gracious  work,  than  which 
no  corporal  act  of  mercy  is  to  be  accounted 
higher  in  the  sight  of  God  and  man. 

I  cannot  speak  more  strongly  than  I  feel  upon 
the  real  heroism  of  the  Red  Cross  workers,  that 
quiet,  unobtrusive,  long-enduring  heroism,  which 
only  catches  the  public  eye  for  a  moment,  as  it 
were,  when  it  shows  forth  lit  up  by  the  angry 
light  of  the  fires  of  the  battlefield.  Little  enough 
do  we  reck,  in  normal  times,  of  that  multitude 
of  peaceful  fighters  whose  sole  care  in  life  is  to 
sustain  the  suffering,  to  nurse  the  sick,  and  to 
tend  the  fallen.  We  take  it  for  granted,  some- 
how, in  our  careless,  selfish  fashion,  that  there 
will  always  be  some  willing  to  undertake  the 
duties  for  which  each  one  of  us  should,  I  think,  fit 
ourselves  in  some  measure.  The  coming  of  this 
war  has  brought  home  to  us,  as  nothing  else  could 
have  done,  the  duty  that  lies  upon  every  citizen 


52  What  of   To-Day? 

so  to  train  himself  in  peace  time  that  he  may 
be  able,  if  called  upon,  to  render  efficient  and 
effectual  aid  in  the  defence  of  the  country  and 
the  Empire.  Yet  great  as  is  the  admiration  with 
which,  in  war  time,  we  hail  the  work  of  the  Red 
Cross,  and  necessary  as  we  admit  this  help  to  be, 
I  doubt  if  it  has  occurred  to  many  that  it  is  just 
as  necessary  for  every  woman  to  be  trained  to 
some  extent  in  the  profession  of  nursing,  as  it  is 
for  every  man  to  be  taught  to  use  a  rifle  and  to 
know  something  of  the  elements  of  drill. 

In  that  other  comparatively  insignificant  war 
in  which  we  were  engaged  more  than  a  dozen 
years  ago,  many  noble  hearted  women  rushed 
to  the  front  to  offer  their  services  in  helping  to 
nurse  the  wounded.  They  acted  from  the  best 
of  motives,  but  they  were  practically  useless, 
for  nursing  is  a  science,  and,  like  every  other 
science,  must  be  acquired  by  a  long  and  hard 
apprenticeship.  There  is  no  royal  road  to 
service  under  the  Red  Cross,  nor  can  anyone 
effectively  take  up  the  works  of  charity  and 
mercy,  at  a  moment's  notice,  without  having 
fitted  oneself  for  the  task. 

That  lesson  has  been  preached  to  mankind 
for  thousands  of  years,  but  how  few  have  ever 
taken  it  to  heart !  And  we  of  this  generation 
have  been  no  wiser  than  our  fathers  before  us. 
Let  us  be  frank  and  acknowledge  the  truth. 
We  have  done  much,  I  know,  in  the  matter  of 
giving  money.  England,  I  am  proud  to  think, 


The  Red  Cross  53 

has  ever  had  her  ears  open  to  the  cry  for  help 
from  the  hovels  of  her  great  centres  of  industry. 
The  hospitals  of  the  country  have  been  sup- 
ported in  magnificent  fashion  by  voluntary  effort, 
and  the  work  that  they  have  been  able  to  do  in 
consequence  has  been  of  incalculable  value.  But 
the  fact  remains  that  we  have  left  the  hardest 
part — the  personal  service — to  that  small  band 
of  devoted  and  self-sacrificing  women,  whose 
sole  reward  is  in  the  doing  of  their  works  of 
charity  and  mercy.  If  only  for  the  discipline  of 
it,  every  man  should  be  drilled  how  to  fight  as 
every  woman  ought  to  be  trained  how  to  nurse. 
If  this  only  had  been  so,  what  a  treasury  of  men 
and  money  would  have  been  saved  to  England 
to-day.  Foresight  is  not  our  strong  point. 

It  is  good  for  the  discipline  of  our  souls  to 
move  among  the  sick  in  the  wards  of  the  hos- 
pitals or  infirmaries,  or  in  slumland,  "where  a 
single  sordid  attic  holds  the  living  and  the  dead." 
It  is  by  the  bedside  of  the  sick  man  and  child 
that  lessons  in  courage  and  patience  are  learned. 
Till  we  make  a  practice  of  visiting  the  sick  it  is 
difficult  for  us  to  get  a  sense  of  proportion.  Till 
we  set  up  our  own  crosses  beside  those  borne 
by  others,  it  is  impossible  to  realise  that  our  own 
sufferings  are  not  quite  the  worst  and  certainly 
not  the  least  deserved. 

This  is  why  I  want  all  Englishmen,  and 
particularly  Englishwomen,  to  realise  the  true 
meaning  of  the  symbol  of  the  Red  Cross.  It 


54  What  of  To-Day  ? 

is  a  banner  under  which  we  all,  no  matter  what 
our  ordinary  avocation  may  be,  can  enlist.  We 
may  not  be  able  to  give  up  our  whole  time  to 
its  call,  but  we  can  at  least  become  not  un- 
worthy followers  of  all  that  it  stands  for. 
Sooner  or  later  the  war  will  end,  but  there  can 
be  no  end  to  that  other  war  against  suffering 
and  disease.  And  in  this  never-ending  struggle 
the  emblem  of  the  Red  Cross  must  stand  for  us 
as  a  rallying  point,  or  a  signal-post  pointing 
to  the  path  along  which  our  duty  lies.  I  have 
on  another  page  pointed  to  the  consoling  fact, 
that  great  as  are  the  horrors,  and  terrible  as  is 
the  curse,  of  war ;  yet  even  out  of  such  a  war 
as  this  good  may  come  if  we  open  our  ears 
and  our  hearts  to  receive,  in  a  humble  and  a 
chastened  spirit,  the  lesson  it  has  to  teach  and 
the  message  it  has  to  bring  us.  But  we  must 
be  ready  to  give  up  our  false  ideals  of  comfort, 
our  false  ideals  of  leisure,  our  false  ideals  of  life 
itself.  We  must  be  prepared  to  throw  over- 
board the  lumber  of  useless  cargo  with  which, 
during  our  years  of  peace  and  fancied  security, 
we  have  burdened  our  ship  almost  to  sinking 
point.  We  must  get  back  to  the  realities  of 
things.  We  must  return  to  a  harder,  cleaner 
way  of  living.  We  must  realise,  in  a  finer, 
clearer  vision,  that  common  brotherhood  of  men 
of  which  we  have  talked  so  much  and  for  which 
we  have  done  so  little.  We  must,  in  short, 
return  to  the  principles  laid  down  by  Christ 


The  Red  Cross  55 

for  the  better  conduct  of  our  own  individual 
lives. 

For  the  Red  Cross  is  the  symbol  of  Christ 
Himself.  It  is  the  symbol  of  compassion,  one 
of  the  greatest  of  Christian  virtues.  The  man 
who  has  compassion  for  his  fellows  will  not  be 
found  wanting  in  much  else.  We  are  told  in 
the  Gospel  story  that  Our  Lord  beheld  the 
multitude  and  had  compassion  on  them,  and 
that  He  broke  bread  and  gave  it  to  them.  He 
opened  His  eyes  to  see,  He  opened  His  heart 
to  feel,  He  opened  His  hand  to  give.  That 
must  be  our  method  of  procedure.  We  cannot 
go  on  better  lines  in  dealing  with  suffering 
humanity.  And  the  more  we  come  into  con- 
tact, direct  personal  contact,  with  the  sick  and 
the  suffering,  the  more  fully  we  shall  come  to 
understand  the  meaning  of  the  commandment 
to  love  our  neighbour  as  ourself. 

It  was  my  privilege,  not  a  year  ago,  to  say 
a  few  words  on  behalf  of  the  League  of  Mercy, 
an  institution  which  has  done  an  enormous 
amount  of  good  in  supporting  our  hospitals 
and  helping  the  sick  and  the  suffering  in  many 
ways.  In  future  we  must  all  become,  whether 
formally  or  not,  Leaguers  of  Mercy.  We  must 
recognise  to  the  full  the  nature  of  the  endless 
war  in  which  we  have  also  our  part  to  play.  We 
must  not  be  shirkers  in  that  fight,  or  deserters 
from  the  post  to  which  the  great  Commander- 
in-Chief  of  all  men  has  appointed  us.  We 


56  What  of  To-Day? 

must  boldly  face  the  enemy  with  the  same 
spirit  in  which  we  are  now  facing  the  enemies 
of  our  country.  We  must  not  any  longer  shut 
our  eyes  to  the  unpleasant  facts  of  life,  or  try 
to  banish  from  our  thoughts,  as  well  as  from 
our  sight,  the  misery  of  so  many  of  our  fellow 
beings.  We  must  look  upon  the  world  not 
as  it  might  have  been  or  as  we  choose  to  think 
it  may  be,  but  as  it  actually  is. 

God  has  not  created  this  world  to  be  man's 
final  destiny.  It  is,  at  the  best,  but  a  sin-stained 
noviciate  for  that  other  land  where  there  shall 
be  no  more  sorrow  and  death.  Not  in  trying 
to  satisfy  our  own  worthless  desires  for  material 
happiness  and  pleasure  shall  we  be  preparing 
for  the  high  destiny  to  which  we  are  called. 
We  must  take  a  saner  and  more  serious  view. 
Remembering  all  it  stands  for,  let  us  turn  our 
eyes  to  the  Red  Cross,  the  cross  consecrated 
by  the  sufferings  of  Christ  Himself,  and  learn 
from  that  symbol  of  compassion  the  lesson  we 
had  well-nigh  forgotten  in  the  heedless  days 
before  our  sudden  and  rude  awakening. 

I  have  said  that  the  world  to-day  is  largely 
a  battlefield,  on  which  besides  the  fighters  and 
the  fallen  are  the  wounded  and  the  dying. 
Here  is  the  opportunity  for  the  priest,  the 
doctor,  the  surgeon,  and  the  nurse,  who,  with 
ambulances  and  all  the  personnel  and  equip- 
ment of  modern  science,  are  quick  to  bring 
help  and  solace  and  comfort  to  our  brave  men 


The  Red  Cross  57 

broken  in  the  fight.  The  Times  Red  Cross 
Fund  is  lending  a  strong  helping  hand  in  this 
mercy  work.  The  sum,  which  bids  fair  to 
reach  £1,000,000,  is  contributed  by  representa- 
tives of  all  sections  of  the  community. 


VIII 
SOWN   IN  TEARS 

NEVER  has  our  Empire  shone  forth  so  gloriously 
from  her  place  in  the  sun  as  she  does  to-day  ; 
never  have  her  sons  responded  so  readily  or  so 
gladly  to  her  appeal  for  recruits,  never  have  they 
felt  so  proud  of  being  members  of  her  Empire, 
and  never  were  they  more  stubbornly  resolved  to 
fight  this  sacred  war  to  the  finish.  What  an  in- 
spiring sight  has  been  presented  to  us  by  our 
recruits  rolling  up  in  their  30,000  a  day.  They 
caught  the  cry:  "Your  King  and  Country  need 
you,"  and  forthwith  the  labourer  dropped  his  hoe, 
the  operative  his  spindle,  the  artisan  his  tool,  the 
clerk  his  pen,  the  shopman  his  goods,  the  mer- 
chant his  bills,  the  squire  his  sport  and  the  courtier 
his  place  in  order  to  join  the  colours  and  to  serve 
in  the  ranks,  ready  to  do  and  die  in  a  life-and- 
death  struggle  for  "Old  England."  Fancy  a 
colonel  dropping  to  the  rank  of  second  lieu- 
tenant so  as  to  get  sooner  to  the  front !  and  a 
commander  ready  to  start  his  career  afresh  in 
order  to  be  in  the  fighting  line !  Who  could 
have  believed  that  our. peace-loving,  law-abiding 
people  could  have  had  such  grit  and  sand  in 

58 


Sown  in  Tears  59 

them  ?  Who  could  have  conceived  it  possible 
that  no  sooner  did  they  begin  to  realise  that  their 
King  needed  their  personal  services  but  forthwith 
without  a  murmur,  without  a  second-thought,  they 
"signed  on,"  and  went  forth  in  what  they  stood, 
and  with  nothing  else,  to  fall  in  and  start  a  life 
altogether  foreign  to  their  taste  and  contrary  to 
their  instincts? 

Often  these  men,  accustomed  to  a  cosy,  com- 
fortable and  happy  home,  have  found  themselves 
in  the  first  days  of  camp  life  subjected  to  hard- 
ships they  had  never  even  dreamed  could  have 
been  their  lot.  Short  commons,  no  change,  no 
blanket  has  been  their  first  experience  of  soldier- 
ing, and  yet  these  same  recruits  have  submitted 
to  their  trials  with  good-humoured  joke  and 
laughter,  making  the  best  of  hard  luck!  Not 
only  have  our  men  experienced  the  bite  of 
hunger  and  the  snap  of  cold  before  they  ever  got 
into  their  khaki,  but  in  the  first  weeks  they  had 
to  go  without  the  pay  which  ought  to  have  pur- 
chased them  some  tinned  food  and  tobacco.  I 
found  several  camps  where  the  first  days  of 
soldiering  must  have  meant  terrible  privations  to 
the  men,  but  though  they  acknowledged  they  had 
been  hit  hard,  they  all  seemed  to  recognise  that 
the  hardship  was  almost  inevitable,  and  would 
not  last  long,  and  in  spite  of  their  privations  they 
marched  with  a  swing  and  a  swagger  which 
showed  they  were  made  of  the  right,  tough  stuff. 
We  are  not  all  of  us  heroes,  and,  if  the  recruiting 


60  What  of  To-Day  ? 

fell  off  sadly  enough  after  the  first  weeks,  the 
fault  must  not  be  charged  on  the  people,  but 
rather  on  the  Press,  which,  by  its  posters  implied 
the  British  were  usually  ''victorious,"  while  the 
Germans  were  "exhausted."  Besides,  at  one 
time,  some  dissatisfaction  was  expressed  with 
regard  to  the  Government  provision  for  the  de- 
pendents of  those  at  the  front. 

One  Sunday  morning,  when  a  thousand  men 
and  more  marched  from  near  Wareham  toBindon 
Abbey,  where  I  said  Mass  for  them  in  the  open 
amid  the  ruins  of  the  old  Cistercian  minster,  I 
was  altogether  enchanted  with  their  appearance, 
their  bearing,  and  their  simple,  childlike  piety 
and  devotion.  When  I  stood  upon  an  improvised 
platform  and  after  Mass  harangued  the  men  garbed 
in  all  manner  of  turn-outs,  a  sea  of  faces  was 
turned  up  towards  me,  and  eyes  aglow  with  ex- 
pectation were  fixed  on  me.  With  rapt  attention 
these  "Tommies"  followed  every  word  I  said, 
tears,  in  many  instances,  streaming  in  the  sunshine, 
down  their  sun-bronzed,  boyish  cheeks.  I  re- 
minded them  of  the  noble  crusade  against 
barbarism,  butchery  and  incendiarism  upon  which 
they  had  entered ;  how  the  freedom  of  peoples 
and  Christian  civilisation  itself  lay  in  their  hands  ; 
that  it  was  a  lay  apostolate  to  which  they  had 
pledged  themselves.  The  spirit  of  the  men  once 
serving  under  Nelson  and  Wellington,  Havelock 
and  Outram,  Roberts  and  Kitchener,  I  saw  reborn 
in  the  forces  before  me.  They  were  out,  as  I 


Sown  in  Tears  61 

reminded  them,  to  plunge  into  the  thick  of  a 
world  fight,  and  the  flame  of  victory  I  could  see 
already  ablaze  upon  their  brows.  Let  them  re- 
member Aisne,  remember  September  15th,  when 
their  brothers  in  arms  withstood  and  repulsed  a 
ten-times  repeated  attack  hurled  by  the  Prussian 
forces  against  them.  Like  an  iron  wall  the  Anglo- 
French  stood  their  ground  all  that  night,  finishing 
their  splendid  stand  with  the  capture  of  nearly  a 
thousand  prisoners  and  the  prize  of  60  mitrail- 
leuse guns. 

When  my  address  was  done  these  sons  of  the 
Empire,  so  reckless  of  life,  light-hearted  as  boys, 
pressed  around  me  with  rosaries,  medals  and 
scapulars  kneeling  unabashed,  and  asking  a  bless- 
ing upon  themselves  and  their  objects  of  piety. 
Some  gave  me  letters  to  post,  others  plucked  a 
field  flower  from  the  abbey  ruins,  or  pressed  a 
photograph  or  picture-card  into  my  hand,  begging 
me  to  send  them  home  to  dear  ones  left  behind. 

It  was  all  very  touching  and  very  simple  and 
very  sublime,  because  altogether  very  grand. 

So  far  I  have  struck  the  brighter  and  lighter 
side  of  the  picture,  but  we  must  not  forget  the 
shaded  obverse  aspect  of  the  situation.  To  return 
from  camps  to  homes  is  almost  like  passing  from 
sunshine  into  darkness.  Mothers,  wives  and 
daughters,  all  braver  than  their  men,  all  braced  up 
to  do  their  duty,  all  struggling  heroically  to  face 
what  for  them  may  be  life  torn  from  meaning,  a 
great  light  quenched,  and  darkness  to  the  end. 


62  What  of  To-Day  ? 

For  with  the  life  of  every  soldier  fallen  in  battle 
there  goes  forth  the  cry : 

"ALL  IS    DARK   WHERE   THOU   ART    NOT." 

If  not  without  emotion  an  outsider  takes  up  the 
roll  of  honour  in  his  morning  paper,  and  reads 
down  the  list  of  the  dead,  the  wounded,  and  the 
missing,  picking  out  the  names  of  those  who  are 
his  friends  or  acquaintances,  what  must  be  the 
agony  of  anxiety  with  which  a  mother,  wife,  or 
child,  awaits  news  from  the  War  Office,  which 
tells  them  of  the  fate  of  their  dear  ones  at  the 
front!  To  witness,  as  I  have  done,  the  breaking 
of  hearts  with  the  news  of  battles,  has  been 
almost  more  than  one  could  bear.  Little  com- 
fort to  the  young  wife  or  widowed  mother  to  be 
reminded  that  their  dear  one  fell  in  a  noble 
cause,  a  hero  in  the  fight,  a  martyr  for  his 
country.  What  words  have  yet  been  forged  in 
any  language  to  heal  a  wounded  heart,  to  dry 
up  tears  of  blood  ?  There  is  little  or  no  comfort 
to  be  wrung  out  of  the  truest  sympathy  or  to  be 
drawn  from  the  deepest  devotion.  When  the 
sun  of  one's  life  has  gone  down,  no  language  can 
dispel  the  gathering  gloom  about  the  widowed 
heart.  When  the  prop  on  which  one  had  learned 
to  lean  with  all  khuman  strength  has  been  with- 
drawn and  shattered,  what  remains  but  to  sink 
hopeless  and  helpless  to  the  very  earth  ? 

Yes,  there  is  one  source  of  help,  there  is  one 
strong  hand  that  can  lift  the  helpless,  and  one 
kind  heart  that  can  revive  the  hopeless.  Jesus 


Sown  in  Tears  63 

Christ  is  here,  yet,  in  our  midst,  and  into  the 
blind-drawn  house  He  passes  with  the  words  still 
flowing  from  His  sacred  lips  :  "  Come  to  Me  all 
ye  that  labour  and  are  heavy  burdened" — He 
can  and  will  comfort  the  bereaved  and  the  sick 
at  heart — virtue  still  goes  out  from  Him,  and 
strength  is  in  His  pathway.  It  is  when  all  else 
fails  that  the  Christian  soul  finds  the  truest  and 
deepest  meaning  of  the  Christian  religion.  It  is 
the  religion  of  the  Man  of  Sorrows,  "  Who  hath 
borne  our  iniquities  and  carried  our  grief." 
When  Jesus  Christ  first  came  on  earth,  He  met 
Labour  and  his  twin  brother  Sorrow,  the  offspring 
of  Sin.  With  the  sweat  of  His  brow  He  baptised 
Labour  and  changed  work  from  a  curse  into  a 
blessing,  and  with  the  tears  upon  His  cheeks, 
He  baptised  Sorrow,  and  changed  sorrow  from 
a  penalty  into  a  privilege.  Since  then,  both 
Sorrow  and  Death  have  been  as  Angels  guiding 
us  from  this  vale  of  tears  to  a  land  where  Sorrow 
shall  be  no  more,  nor  Death  any  more.  He,  the 
Strong  Son  of  the  Strong  God,  has  promised, 
when  this  shifting  scene  is  done  with,  to  wipe 
away  every  tear  from  our  eyes.  Meanwhile,  we 
must  betake  ourselves  to  Him  and  plead  at  His 
sacred  feet  for  strength  to  do  and  to  bear  His 
blessed  will.  We  need,  most  of  us,  His  chalice, 
and  we  must  force  ourselves  to  sip  from  it  drops 
of  that  bitter  draught  which  He  drained  to  the 
dregs.  Have  courage,  be  of  good  cheer,  daugh- 
ter, for  he  who  has  gone  before  you,  fallen  in 


64  What  of  To-Day? 

battle,  is  already  resting  in  peace,  or  awaiting 
you  on  the  golden  threshold,  a  Christian  hero 
safely  landed  after  his  work  was  done.  You,  who 
believe  in  prayers  for  the  dead,  pour  forth  your 
hearts  in  humble  but  confident  supplications  for 
your  heroes  fallen  with  faces  to  the  foe.  Lift  up 
your  streaming  eyes,  and  put  forth  your  out- 
stretched arms,  asking  God  to  help  you  to  pursue 
your  journey  onward  and  upward  till  the  curtains 
of  night  shall  be  drawn  back,  and  the  dawn  of 
everlasting  day  arises  before  you.  Before  long 
this  tiny  arc  out  of  the  golden  round  of  our 
eternal  life  shall  be  closed  up,  and  we,  even  we, 
shall  find  Faith  giving  way  to  sight,  Hope  being 
more  than  realised,  and  Love  and  loved  ones 
being  all  in  all  with  the  face-to-face  vision  of 
God  in  our  happy-making  Home.  Then  shall 
be  fulfilled  the  promise  that  they  who  have 
"Sown  in  tears,  shall  reap  in  joy." 


IX 
PLAY  THE   GAME 

THAT  gallant,  brave  and  heroic  soldier,  Field- 
Marshal  Lord  Roberts,  reminded  us  in  his 
last  days  that  this  is  no  time  for  playing  games. 
Emphatically  it  is  not,  but  it  is  the  time  for 
drawing  lessons  from  the  games  which  have 
occupied  so  much  of  our  leisure  and  absorbed 
so  much  of  our  money  as  well  as  our  attention. 

Of  all  the  countries  of  the  world,  America 
and  Britain  are  the  two  most  devoted  to  out- 
door sport,  and  whatever  disadvantages  this 
devotion  to  games  entails,  it  at  least  has  the 
solid  benefit  of  improving  the  physique  of  a 
nation,  and  teaching  us  the  value  of  self-reliance 
and  self-restraint.  Games  train  the  limbs  and 
senses  of  the  body,  give  quickness  to  the  eye, 
swiftness  to  the  foot  and  increase  the  alertness, 
nimbleness  and  decision  of  the  mind.  It  is 
scarcely  an  exaggeration  to  say  that  games  play 
an  important  part  in  character  building. 

But  like  other  good  things,  games  have  been 
overdone,  both  in  my  own  country  and,  I  am 
sure  many  will  agree,  also  in  America.  We  have 
been  living  in  a  day  when  the  questions  of 

F  65 


66  What  of  To-Day  ? 

gate-money  and  professionalism  have  entered 
far  too  deeply  into  what  is,  after  all,  merely 
physical  and  mental  exercise  of  a  high  order. 
And  it  has  come  about  that,  in  place  of  affording 
reasonable  recreation  to  the  whole  youth  of  the 
nation,  the  actual  playing  of  such  games  as  foot- 
ball and  baseball  has  been  restricted  to  a 
comparatively  small  and  highly  paid  body  of 
professed  experts,  while  the  rest  of  the  com- 
munity have  been  content  to  look  on  and 
applaud  their  efforts. 

The  betting  evil,  too,  which  has  followed  as 
a  natural  consequence  of  the  vicarious  interest 
taken  in  such  sport,  has  grown  to  enormous 
proportions.  Games,  therefore,  have  failed  of 
late  years  in  their  true  mission.  They  have  not 
enlisted  the  bones,  blood  and  sinews  of  the 
nation  and  sent  them  to  fight  for  victory  on  our 
playing  fields.  And  here,  as  I  think,  is  food 
for  serious  thought,  both  for  us  who  are  now 
called  to  render  an  account  of  how  we  have  borne 
ourselves  in  the  fat  days  of  peace,  and  no  less 
for  our  great  sister  nation  across  the  sea,  which 
may  profitably  seize  this  moment  for  asking  if 
all  is  well  with  them  also  in  this  respect. 

However  well  we  may  understand  the  rules, 
the  finer  points,  and  the  subtleties  of  a  game, 
the  mere  watching  of  others  taking  part  in  it 
cannot  benefit  us  in  the  slightest  possible  degree. 
We  may  applaud  the  skill,  the  coolness  and  the 
agility  shown  by  the  players,  but  that  is  no 


Play  the  Game  67 

sufficient  preparation  against  the  hour  when  we 
ourselves  may  be  called  upon  to  display  in  some 
measure  the  qualities  which  have  evoked  our 
enthusiasm  for  our  peace-time  heroes. 

Perhaps  the  greatest  of  all  the  benefits  con- 
ferred by  any  game  is  that  elusive  and  indefinable 
quality  known  as  *'  sportsmanship."  If  it  were 
only  for  the  sake  of  acquiring  this  excellent 
virtue  I  would  have  all  boys  and  youths  taught 
to  delight  in  the  actual  playing  of  a  game.  We 
have  got  into  the  habit,  due  in  large  measure  to 
the  increase  in  the  watching  instead  of  the  playing 
of  games,  of  judging  too  much  by  results.  There 
are  people,  I  am  credibly  informed,  who  are  made 
utterly  miserable  by  the  sight  of  their  football  or 
baseball  club's  defeat.  Yet,  rightly  considered, 
the  object  of  the  game  was  not  so  much  victory  at 
all  costs,  but  the  good  effect  in  those  qualities  I 
have  already  mentioned  on  the  players.  The 
real  sportsman  would  far  sooner  be  beaten  in 
a  terrifically  close  contest,  whatever  the  nature  of 
the  game  in  which  he  is  taking  part,  than  form  one 
of  a  side  achieving  a  run-away  victory  over  out- 
classed opponents,  and  still  less  share  in  a  victory 
achieved  by  some  form  of  dishonesty.  It  is  the 
zest  of  the  fight,  not  the  joy  of  conquering,  that 
gives,  or  ought  to  give,  real  pleasure.  What  does 
it  matter  whether  we  win  or  lose,  if  at  the  end  of 
the  game  we  can  say  that  we  have  borne  ourselves 
worthily  during  its  progress? 

It  is  this  feeling,  not  yet  crushed  by  the  modern 


68  What  of  To-Day? 

development  of  games,  which  ranges  us  instinc- 
tively on  the  side  of  the  "  small  nation  "  in  the 
sterner  affairs  of  life.  The  spectacle  of  Belgium, 
crushed  and  trampled  under  the  heel  of  a  ruthless 
invader,  is  a  saddening  one,  yet  the  heroic  resis- 
tance of  that  small  country  against  an  overpowering 
enemy  has  called  forth  the  admiration  and  applause 
of  the  whole  world .  She  has  emphatically ' '  played 
the  game,"  and  the  real  aim  and  object  of  our 
friendly  and  peaceful  contests  should  be  to  teach 
us  to  "  play  the  game  "  in  other  and  sterner  fights. 
Does  anyone  feel  that  Belgium,  over-run  though 
she  be  by  innumerable  hordes  of  invaders,  has  not 
gained  an  imperishable  glory  by  the  unequal 
struggle  she  has  put  up  against  overwhelming 
numbers  ?  I  think  not.  Belgium  has  at  least 
"played  the  game,"  although  the  issue  is  nothing. 

Out-door  pursuits  must  inevitably  be  of  more 
benefit  to  us  both  in  body  and  soul  than  indoor 
recreations,  which  are  more  suited  to  the  older 
amongst  us.  For  every  game  is  but  a  symbol  of 
life,  and  a  "  bad  loser,"  whether  at  golf,  at  bridge 
or  at  chess,  will  be  a  bad  loser  when  things  go 
wrong  with  him  in  the  great  game  of  life.  If  men 
and  women  would  but  steel  themselves  to  accept 
defeat  even  in  a  game  with  a  light  heart  and  a 
pleasant  smile,  they  would  find  it  far  easier  to 
grapple  with  real  troubles  and  real  losses. 

How  many  people  does  one  hear  ascribing  all 
their  woes  and  difficulties  to  ill  luck !  Yet  there  is 
in  reality  very  little  luck  at  all  about  the  game  of 


Play  the  Game  69 

life.  One  man  may,  it  is  true,  be  born  into 
a  higher  position  than  another,  with  more  favour- 
able circumstances  and  with  a  more  fortunate  en- 
vironment. But  he  is  compelled  no  less  than  his 
poorer  brother  to  "  play  the  game  "  properly,  or 
it  will  be  the  worse  for  him  in  the  end. 

Take  the  game  of  chess  as  an  illustration  of 
what  I  mean.  The  generic  term  for  the  pieces 
of  all  grades  in  this  game  is  man.  The  men 
are  kings,  queens,  bishops,  knights  and  pawns. 
It  is  no  special  matter  whether  your  mission  is 
represented  by  the  king,  or  the  bishop,  or  the 
knight  or  the  pawn,  but  it  does  matter  very 
much  indeed  that  you  should  play  the  character 
assigned  to  you  to  the  best  of  your  power.  Your 
business  is  not  to  be  conceited  about  your  crown 
or  your  mitre,  but  to  fulfil  your  part.  When  the 
game  is  done,  all  the  men  from  king  to  pawn 
will  be  swept  off  the  board  into  the  same  com- 
mon wooden  box,  without  distinction.  All  are 
made  of  the  same  stuff,  all  of  the  same  wooden 
material.  In  origin  and  destiny  we  are  all  alike, 
but  for  the  moment  during  our  sojourn  here  we 
have  to  remind  ourselves  that  he  is  the  best  servant 
of  God,  the  noblest  Christian,  who  fills  most 
worthily  the  role  allotted  him  in  the  scheme  of 
things  on  God's  earth,  who,  in  short,  has  "  played 
the  game"  to  the  full  measure  of  his  ability. 

Once  more,  I  may  compare  life  to  a  game  of 
cards,  taking  as  my  illustration  the  game  that  is 
rather  too  popular  to-day — the  game  of  bridge. 


70  What  of  To-Day  ? 

Some  men  play  for  love  and  declare  a  heart, 
others  again  are  playing  for  riches  and  make 
diamonds  their  suit,  while  others  play  boldly 
for  power  and  position  and  honours  and  then 
clubs  are  trumps.  But  no  matter  what  call  a 
man  may  make,  he  may  be  sure  that  in  the  end 
he  will  be  over-called  by  a  declaration  of  spades. 

Spades  will  be  trumps,  perhaps  sooner  than 
most  of  us  expect.  When  our  unseen  adversary 
outbids  us  with  that  call  the  question  will  be, 
have  we  played  the  game,  have  we  been  straight, 
have  we  revoked,  have  we  made  the  best  of  every 
card  in  our  hand,  have  we  kept  to  the  rules  that 
should  have  guided  our  play?  Life  consists  not 
so  much  in  holding  a  good  hand  as  in  playing  a 
bad  one  well.  Grumbling  at  the  lack  of  aces 
and  kings  in  the  hand  dealt  out  to  us  will  not  avail 
us  when  the  rubber  is  over  and  the  points  on  either 
side  are  added  up.  For  at  the  final  reckoning  we 
shall  not  be  required  to  have  achieved  a  grand 
slam  without  an  ace  in  our  hand,  but  rather  to 
have  made  the  best  of  the  cards  we  have  actually 
held.  Once  more,  in  fact,  all  that  is  asked  of  us 
is  to  "  play  the  game." 

And  in  such  sports  as  football,  baseball  and 
cricket  it  is  the  same.  We  have  to  do  our  best 
in  that  particular  station  to  which  the  captain 
assigns  us.  The  pitcher  or  the  bowler,  if  he  has 
done  his  best,  will  not  be  blamed  for  the  defeat 
of  his  side.  Nor,  if  his  skill  is  confined  solely  to 
pitching,  to  mastery  of  the  ball,  will  he  be  ex- 


Play  the  Game  71 

pected  to  perform  miracles  in  the  way  of  making 
big  hits  and  scoring  runs  for  his  team.  A  foot- 
ball forward  does  not  necessarily  make  a  good 
back,  but  in  either  case  each  man  is  expected 
to  exert  all  his  skill  and  his  powers  to  the  utter- 
most against  the  common  foe. 

So  it  is  with  life.  We  are  all  players,  but 
each  has  his  work  set  him  to  do,  not  to  live  for 
the  senses,  not  according  to  the  lust  of  the 
moment  or  the  whim  of  the  hour,  but  on  the 
contrary  to  do  all  in  his  power  to  carry  out  with 
efficiency  the  work  to  which  he  is  deputed  by 
God,  who  deigns  to  need  each  one  of  us. 

It  is  a  sad  reflection  that  in  times  of  prosperity 
man  is  apt  to  neglect  Almighty  God.  But  such  a 
dark  night  as  that  through  which  we  are  now 
passing,  is  God's  opportunity.  As  children  turn 
in  their  little  troubles  to  their  parents  for  help  and 
comfort,  so  does  man  at  such  a  time  remember 
that  there  is  always  one  unfailing  Helper  and  Com- 
forter at  his  side.  All  that  He  asks  in  return  for 
His  unstinted  love  and  consolation  is  that  we  shall 
on  our  part,  ' '  play  the  game  ' '  manfully  and  nobly, 
and  so  in  some  small  measure  requite  Him  for 
His  care  and  never-failing  watchfulness  over  us. 
In  these  days  there  are  many,  hitherto  neglectful, 
who  are  turning  to  Him  for  strength  and  courage. 
But  while  doing  so  in  good  hope  that  they  shall 
not  be  disappointed,  let  them  remember  that  it  is 
for  them,  too,  to  play  their  part  as  He  would  have 
them  play  it,  quitting  themselves  as  men. 


X 

RUN   FOR  YOUR  LIFE 

IN  St.  Paul's  first  letter  to  the  Corinthians, 
the  Apostle  exhorts  them  to  learn  from  their 
national  games,  of  which  they  had  good  reason 
to  be  as  supremely  proud  as  they  were  passion- 
ately fond,  a  lesson  full  of  practical  significance. 
This  is  what  he  says:  "  Know  you  not  that  they 
who  run  in  the  race  all  run  indeed,  but  one 
receiveth  the  prize  ?  So  run,  that  you  may  ob- 
tain." (1  Cor.  ix.  24.) 

From  almost  mythical  times  Corinth  had 
been  famous  for  the  Isthmian  sports,  as  they 
were  called  from  the  isthmus  on  which  the  city 
was  built.  And,  indeed,  in  no  other  part  of 
Greece  was  there  to  be  found  a  ground  more 
favourably  adapted  by  nature,  as  well  as  by  art, 
for  athletic  sports,  than  that  one  which  ran  down 
the  avenue  of  pine  trees  standing  out  so  darkly 
against  the  snow-white  statues  which  reared 
their  heroic  forms  at  regulated  intervals  along 
the  whole  length  of  the  Corinthian  race  course. 
In  this  fine,  fair  city,  sheltered  by  its  citadel 
rock  on  the  north-east,  its  shoreland  washed 
by  the  great  sea,  assembled  all  Greece,  with 

72 


Run  for  Your  Life  73 

the  exception  of  the  Spartans  and  Eleans,  on 
occasion  of  these  games  in  which  so  lively  an 
interest  was  taken  by  all  sections  of  that  vast 
community. 

For  a  moment  let  us  pause  and  picture  to 
ourselves  the  familiar  scene  to  which  St.  Paul 
draws  our  attention  in  the  passage  of  his  letter 
we  have  been  reading. 

The  stadium  or  race  course,  strewn  with  fine 
sand,  running  north  and  south  of  the  pine  grove, 
is  thronged  throughout  its  entire  length  with 
spectators  raised  tier  above  tier  upon  grand  stands 
commanding  an  uninterrupted  view  of  the  well- 
laid  race  track.  In  the  centre  of  the  course,  and 
half-way  between  starting-point  and  finish,  there 
is  placed  the  tripod  on  which  may  be  seen  the 
keenly  contested  prizes.  What  are  they?  Behold 
them  :  an  unpretending  garland  of  parsley  and  pine 
leaves,  and  beside  it  a  freshly  cut  palm  branch. 

Presently  a  blare  of  trumpets  proclaims  that  a 
race — the  foot  race — is  about  to  open  the  national 
games.  The  competitors,  lithe  and  supple, 
fresh  from  their  anointing,  step  forth  from  the 
pavilion  on  which  all  eyes  are  bent.  Follow  them, 
my  friends,  see  them  as  they  take  their  stand  at 
the  starting  post  in  attitude  expectant  of  the 
signal  to  be  gone.  The  flag  drops,  and  these 
athletes,  splendidly  made,  splendidly  trained,  and 
splendidly  matched,  bound  forward  over  the 
sparkling  floor.  With  flying  feet,  on  and  on 
and  on  they  rush,  so  lightly  touching  the  earth 


74  What  of  To-Day? 

that  they  seem  to  be  borne  on  the  wings  of  the 
very  wind  as  they  fly  past  the  brilliant  lines  of 
spectators,  who,  leaning  forwards  from  their  seats, 
hold  their  breath  in  awful  straining  silence  as  they 
follow  the  chances  of  their  favourites  pressing 
onward  to  the  goal.  But  who  among  such  evenly 
matched  competitors  shall  the  winner  be  ?  Surely 
that  must  depend  upon  some  lucky  movement 
which  not  the  most  skilled  eye  can  pretend  to 
foresee. 

See,  they  are  nearing  the  winning  post — all 
abreast — each  so  straining  every  nerve  and  forcing 
every  muscle  that  it  looks  as  if  the  race  will  end 
in  a  dead  heat,  but  no!  for  one  of  the  runners, 
seizing  his  opportunity,  gathering  up  his  limbs  like 
a  tiger  about  to  spring  on  its  prey,  leaps  over  the 
intervening  space  and  alights  at  the  winning  post, 
bursting  the  ribbon  —  triumphant,  the  winner  of 
the  race. 

And  now  with  the  garland  of  wild  parsley  upon 
his  brow,  and  the  palm  branch  in  his  hand,  amid 
thunders  of  applause  rolling  after  him,  he  is  con- 
ducted down  the  stadium  by  a  herald  who  in  a 
loud  voice  proclaims  his  name,  his  parentage,  and 
the  city  of  his  birth.  Among  the  Greeks  the  ac- 
quisition of  this  crown  was  not  only  a  life-long 
distinction  for  the  winner,  but  reflected  also  the 
highest  honour  on  his  family  and  his  state,  and  we 
are  told  that  his  countrymen  used  to  testify  their 
gratitude  by  triumphal  receptions  and  banquets  at 
the  public  expense. 


Run  for  Your  Life  75 

Let  us  pause  for  a  moment  and  recall  to 
memory  the  price  that  our  hero  has  paid  for 
this  corruptible  crown — this  chaplet  of  parsley 
or  pine  leaves. 

In  the  first  place  he  has  had  to  pass  through  a 
period  of  training  which  beginning  in  childhood 
has  endured  through  the  years  of  youth,  and  is 
completed  only  on  the  attainment  of  man's  estate. 
The  exercises  during  these  precious  years  of  the 
athlete's  life  became  more  and  more  difficult  and 
complex  in  proportion  as  his  bodily  powers  grew 
in  strength  and  suppleness,  till  at  length  when  his 
limbs  had  gained  that  union  of  agility  and  beauty 
in  which  physical  perfection  consists,  he  was 
judged  to  be  sufficiently  trained  to  enter  the  lists, 
and  compete  for  the  coveted  prize. 

It  is  impossible  not  to  feel  a  certain  measure 
of  admiration  for  the  marvellous  and  matchless 
discipline  of  those  Greek  gymnasium  schools. 
Nothing  was  left  to  chance ;  every  detail  in  the 
life  of  the  candidate  was  mapped  out  and  attended 
to.  Besides  the  Gymnasiarch,  there  were  two 
other  officers  whose  functions  were  to  show  how 
thorough  was  the  training  of  the  aspirant  who  had 
set  his  heart  on  winning  a  prize  at  the  national 
games.  It  was  the  business  of  the  Krosmetes  to 
superintend  every  stage  in  the  physical  training  of 
his  client,  while  to  the  Sophronist  fell  the  duty  of 
moulding  the  mental  and  moral  features  of  his  soul. 
Let  me  cite  you  from  the  Enchiridion  of  Epictetus 
a  passage  which  St.  Paul  might  very  well  have  had 


76  What  of  To-Day? 

before  his  mind  when  he  referred  to  the  severe 
training  of  the  gymnasium:  "  Do  you  wish,"  asks 
the  writer  of  a  friend,  "to  conquer  in  the  race? 
So  do  I,  for  it  is  honourable.  But  bethink 
yourself  what  this  attempt  implies,  and  then  begin 
the  undertaking.  You  will  have  to  subject  your- 
self to  a  determinate  course.  You  must  submit  to 
a  severe  regime.  You  must  pursue  established 
exercises  at  fixed  hours  in  heat  and  in  cold.  You 
must  abstain  from  all  delicacies  in  meat  and  drink, 
and  yield  yourself  unreservedly  to  the  control  of 
your  teachers,  and  even  endure  floggings." 

Upon  the  completion  of  this  severe  training 
the  candidate  might  enter  his  name  for  some 
event,  but  before  he  was  permitted  to  take 
part  in  it  he  had  to  pass  through  yet  another 
ordeal.  Into  the  public  stadium  he  was  sum- 
moned by  the  herald,  who,  laying  his  hand 
upon  the  head  of  the  competitor,  enquired  with 
a  loud  voice  of  the  assembly  :  "  Can  anyone 
here  present  accuse  this  man  of  any  crime  ? 
Is  he  a  robber  or  a  slave  ?  or  is  he  wicked  or 
depraved  in  his  life  and  morals?"  If  the  young 
man  passed  through  this  trial  of  his  virtue 
successfully,  he  was  then  conducted  to  the 
altar  of  Zeus,  the  punisher  of  the  perjured, 
where,  with  solemn  rites,  he  was  required  to 
swear  that  he  had  gone  through  the  proper 
training,  and  that  he  would  conform  to  the 
laws  of  the  contest  before  him. 

What  was  it,  let  me  ask,  that   induced   the 


Run  for  Your  Life  77 

smart  young  men  of  that  day  to  subject  them- 
selves to  this  painful  and  laborious  discipline  of 
the  gymnasium?  For  so  trying  was  it  that 
sometimes  men  fell  out  of  the  race  while 
it  was  actually  being  run,  and  sometimes  there 
were  cases  of  competitors  dropping  down  dead 
at  the  winning  post  itself. 

Was  the  contemptible  prize  of  which  the 
Apostle  speaks  worth  the  price  paid  for  it  ? 
Was  it  worth  the  risk  of  a  man's  life  ?  Clearly 
it  was  thought  so  by  the  youth  of  this  bygone 
civilisation. 

The  fact  is  we  are  so  constituted  that  when 
we  have  our  heart  in  our  work,  no  matter  what 
that  work  may  be,  we  do  not  pay  much  attention 
to  the  degree  of  pain  we  may  have  to  endure 
as  the  price  of  its  accomplishment.  Pain  and 
pleasure  are  not  so  mutually  exclusive  of  each 
other  as  they  would  seem  to  be  when  judged 
apart  by  the  frigid  onlooker.  On  the  contrary, 
they  are  complementary  of  each  other,  pain 
only  emphasising  pleasure. 

Sweet  the  pleasure  after  pain.  And  so  it 
came  to  pass  that  the  competitors  for  the  prizes 
at  the  Isthmian  games  willingly  and  eagerly 
went  in  for  training,  refraining  themselves  from 
all  things  that  were  prejudicial  to  the  end  they 
had  in  view  ;  curbing  their  passions,  checking 
their  appetites,  scorning  all  self-indulgence, 
because  their  hearts  were  fixed  on  the  something 
higher,  to  which  the  lower  appetites  must  be 


78  What  of  To-Day? 

sacrificed.  They  sacrificed  the  lower  joys  for 
the  higher,  they  purchased  pleasure  at  the  price 
of  pain. 

And  now,  let  me  invite  you  to  draw  from 
this  object  lesson,  provided  for  our  instruction 
by  the  men  of  ancient  Greece,  the  truths  which 
it  ought  to  bring  home  to  us. 

St.  Paul  would  seem  to  argue  in  this  strain. 
He  asks:  Do  you,  my  Christian  brethren,  believe 
that  at  the  end  of  this  race  of  life  there  is  awaiting 
you,  not  a  corruptible  but  an  incorruptible  crown, 
a  garland  of  unfading  roses  woven  for  you  by  the 
hand  of  Christ  Himself?" 

4 '  Do  you  verily  believe  that  this  crown  of  life 
is  a  prize  most  certainly  attainable  by  each  one 
of  you,  provided  only  you  conform  to  the  rules 
of  the  game  ?  " 

"  Do  you  in  truth  fully  believe  that  this  crown 
is  not  only  surely  within  your  reach,  but  that  it  is 
your  sacred  duty,  your  vocation,  your  mission  at 
all  costs  to  win  and  wear  it?  " 

"  Moreover,  do  you  believe  that  to  encourage 
you  to  make  an  effort  to  obtain  it,  Jesus  Christ, 
with  bleeding  feet,  wearing  a  crown  of  thorns,  and 
bearing  a  heavy  cross,  has  gone  before  you  bless- 
ing the  royal  road  leading  up  to  the  immortal 
prize?" 

"And  lastly,  is  it  your  settled  conviction  that 
if  you  do  not  train  for  and  run  in  this  race,  that 
at  the  close  of  life  not  only  will  you  miss  the  prize 
of  life,  but  all  that  it  implies,  ecstatic  joy,  ever- 


Run  for  Your  Life  79 

lasting  bliss,  rapturous  love,  and  that  all  this  will 
be  lost,  and  lost  for  ever,  through  your  own  fault, 
your  folly,  your  selfishness,  your  slothfulness  ?  " 

As  you  are,  as  you  ought  to  be,  persuaded 
that  the  prize  of  eternal  life  is  being  offered  to 
you,  if  only  you  will  strive  for  it,  you  will,  I  feel 
sure,  make  the  necessary  effort.  If  to  obtain  a 
corruptible  crown  the  Corinthian  pagans  did  so 
much,  you  Christians  will  not  do  less  to  win  the 
crown  that  is  incorruptible. 

Make  not  provision  for  the  flesh,  walk  not 
after  the  flesh,  sow  not  in  the  flesh,  live  not  after 
the  flesh ;  but  mortify  the  flesh,  chastise  the 
flesh,  crucify  the  flesh.  "For  if  you  live  accord- 
ing to  the  flesh  you  shall  die,  but  if  by  the 
Spirit  you  mortify  the  deeds  of  the  flesh  you 
shall  live." 

The  apostles  of  naturalism  will  of  course 
laugh  at  this  doctrine  as  a  worn-out  theory. 
They  hold  one's  only  duty  is  to  amuse  one- 
self, to  enjoy  the  present  hour,  to  make  it 
tingle  with  some  new  sensation.  For  them 
there  is  but  one  sin,  that  of  being  dull. 
Accordingly  these  modern  hierophants  of  a 
materialistic  gospel  advise  their  disciples  not 
to  mortify,  but  to  gratify  the  flesh ;  to  give  it 
all  the  sleep  it  asks,  to  feed  its  appetite  on 
dainties  rich  and  rare,  to  slake  its  thirst  on 
wines  choice  and  costly,  and  to  clothe  it  in 
garments  soft  and  sumptuous.  "Come,  there- 
fore, and  let  us  enjoy  the  good  things  that 


8o  What  of  To-Day? 

are  present  ...  let  not  the  flower  of  the  time 
pass  by :  let  us  crown  ourselves  with  roses  before 
they  are  withered,  let  no  meadow  escape  our 
riot." 

"These  things,"  says  the  Holy  Spirit,  "they 
thought,  and  were  deceived,  for  their  own 
malice  blinded  them." 

Let  us — the  children  of  Christian  forbears 
— take  all  precaution  against  this  microbe  of 
naturalism  which  is  in  the  air  we  breathe,  let 
us  inoculate  the  flesh  with  the  myrrh  of  morti- 
fication, that  will  enable  us  to  throw  off  this 
deadly  poison  with  which  in  our  day  we  are 
attacked.  Let  us  gird  our  loins,  and  after  the 
example  of  our  sainted  brethren  gone  before, 
let  us  curb  and  chide,  chasten  and  chastise 
the  flesh,  lest  instead  of  clothing  the  soul  in 
Heaven  it  seduce  us  to  Hell. 

Listen  to  the  Apostle.  Surely  if  ever  there 
lived  a  man  on  this  earth  who  had  nothing 
to  fear  from  his  flesh  it  was  St.  Paul,  and  yet, 
how  does  he  treat  it  ?  Listen  to  his  solemn  words 
full  of  warning  to  us  :  "I  chastise  my  body  and 
bring  it  into  subjection." 

Behold  here  the  rule  which  each  one  of  us 
must  follow,  if  we  would  win  in  the  Christian 
race.  We  must  chastise  our  bodies,  so  much  at 
least  as  is  necessary  in  order  to  keep  them  in  sub- 
jection. In  other  words,  man's  animal  nature,  like 
all  other  animal  natures,  must  be  tamed  and  trained 
into  obedience,  and  this  can  be  done  only  by 


Run  for  Your  Life  81 

stinting  and  starving  its  inordinate  appetites,  by 
curbing  and  checking  its  wantonness,  by  chiding, 
chastening,  and  chastising  its  rebelliousness. 

The  youngest  among  us  is  nearing  the  end 
of  the  race,  and  when  it  shall  have  been  run,  and 
the  gasping  for  breath  is  quick  and  short  and  faint, 
then  with  a  last  supreme  effort  may  you  spring 
forth  into  the  Everlasting  Arms,  where  saved  and 
safe  in  the  embrace  of  God  your  Father  may  you 
hear  the  long-sought  word:  "Well  done,  well 
done." 

Then,  clothed  with  the  garment  of  glory  and 
crowned  with  the  garland  of  immortality,  shall 
you  enter  the  land  of  triumph  and  victory — the 
Home  of  those  troops  of  Virgins  who  sacrificed 
youth  and  beauty  to  follow  the  Lamb  whereso- 
ever He  goeth ;  the  Home  of  the  companies  of 
Confessors  who  fought  the  good  fight,  ran  their 
course,  kept  the  faith  and  now  wear  the  crown 
of  righteousness ;  the  Home  of  the  armies  of 
Martyrs  who,  triumphant  over  persecution,  fire, 
and  the  sword,  having  dyed  their  garments  in 
the  blood  of  the  Lamb,  now  hold  the  golden 
palm  of  everlasting  victory :  there  shall  your 
Guardian  Angel  proclaim  to  all  the  Chivalry  of 
Heaven  the  story  of  your  struggle  and  your 
victory. 

Then,  when  you  shall  look  down  from  your 
throne  on  high  upon  this  insignificant  grain  of 
dust — this  planet  —  this  earth  —  and  survey  the 
poor  and  paltry  scene  of  your  former  struggles, 

G 


82  What  of  To-Day? 

how  rapturous  will  be  your  joyous  prayer  of 
thanksgiving  to  God  that,  before  it  was  too  late, 
you  had  learned  the  great  lesson  that  the  crown 
of  eternal  life  is  won  only  by  those  who  strive  and 
train,  and  race  for  it. 

"  So  run  that  you  may  obtain."  Roll  up  in 
your  thousands,  sign  on  at  once,  and  go  into 
training,  and  when  you  start  run  for  your  life. 


XI 
THE  WEAPON  OF  PRAYER 

"  IT  is  no  use  praying,  I  never  get  what  I  ask  for." 
"  What  is  the  good  of  praying  when  God  knows 
what  we  want  before  we  ask?"  "I  don't  go  to 
church,  because  really  the  service  is  so  tiresome 
and  the  preaching  insufferably  dull."  "How 
can  you  expect  us  to  go  to  church  on  Sundays, 
when  it  is  one's  only  chance  for  a  day's  spin  in  a 
car,  or  when  one  is  bound  to  spend  the  time  on 
the  links  so  as  to  keep  fit  for  the  coming  week?" 
"Really,  don't  ask  me  to  go  to  church,  when 
there  is  the  blue  vault  of  heaven  over  you,  and  the 
lovely  green  cliffs  rolling  away  as  far  as  eye  can 
see.  I  can  pray  so  much  better  in  the  open  than 
boxed  up  in  a  pew,  where  the  air  is  stuffy,  the 
music  execrable,  and  the  sermon  platitudes." 

In  these  answers  to  the  question,  "  Why  don't 
you  go  to  church  on  Sundays?"  you  have  the 
usual  excuses  offered  for  not  going.  It  is  all 
very  painful  and  sad,  and  shows  that  the  true 
reasons  for  going  to  church  have  ceased  to  be 
appreciated. 

Of  course  the  real  reason  why  people  give  up 
churchgoing  is  because  they  have  already  given 

83 


84  What  of  To-Day? 

up  believing,  or  caring,  or  reckoning  with  re- 
ligion at  all. 

Prayer  is  not  a  matter  of  taste,  or  a  work  of 
supererogation,  nor  is  it  a  business  transaction 
across  a  counter ;  it  is  not  putting  down  so  much 
and  taking  up  what  you  have  asked  for.  Prayer 
is  something  far  better  and  holier;  it  is  the  soul's 
audience  time  with  Heaven's  King,  it  is  our  special 
opportunity  for  acts  of  homage,  of  praise,  thanking 
God  for  what  He  is  in  Himself  and  then  for  what 
He  is  to  us. 

Prayer  is  the  very  highest  operation  of  the  soul. 
During  it  all  the  faculties  of  the  soul  are  called 
forth  and  are  employed  in  the  most  meritorious 
work  in  which  they  can  be  engaged. 

Prayer  is  giving  rather  than  getting.  In  it  we 
pour  forth  our  whole  being  in  acts  of  adoration, 
praise  and  thanksgiving;  we  intone  the  "Gloria 
in  excelsis,"  or  chant  the  "Magnificat,"  or  sing 
the  psalms,  or  litanies  in  which  the  soul  seeks 
to  express  its  worship  of  the  Almighty,  and  its 
indebtedness  to  Him  for  all  His  beauty  and 
excellence,  as  well  as  for  all  His  mercy  and  all  His 
love. 

God,  if  He  does  not  always  grant  us  our  peti- 
tion, always  gives  us  some  gift  immeasurably 
better  for  us  than  the  one  we  asked  for.  Prayer 
never  fails  of  its  mark;  it  always  does  us  good. 

The  fact  of  the  matter  is  we  only  too  often 
pray  for  what  would  be  hurtful,  not  helpful  to  our 
Christian  life.  It  would  be  well  for  those  who 


The  Weapon  of  Prayer       85 

seem  to  be  forgetting  the  meaning  of  prayer  to 
make  a  few  meditations  on  the  petitions  in  the 
"Our  Father."  In  that  best  of  all  prayers  you 
have  epitomised  the  Christian  dispensation,  the 
Sermon  on  the  Mount  and  the  Beatitudes  taught 
by  the  Master.  The  Lord's  Prayer  is  a  treasury 
of  grace,  an  arsenal  of  spiritual  weapons,  and  a 
school  of  lessons  in  the  ascetic  life. 

We  ask  amiss  sometimes,  our  pleading  so 
often  is  for  some  temporal  goal,  success,  or 
advantage  which  God  may  see  not  to  be  useful 
for  us.  He  withholds  it,  and  then  we  turn  away 
exclaiming  :  "What's  the  use  ?  " 

Ask  for  what  is  profitable  for  your  soul — for 
strength  to  bear  God's  Will,  for  courage  to  do  it ; 
plead  for  spiritual  strength  and  heavenly  ambitions 
and  you  will  obtain  what  you  desire. 

Whatever  happens  do  not  be  so  foolish  as 
to  turn  away  from  prayer,  ignoring  God  and 
neglecting  His  service.  To  give  up  prayer  is  to 
forfeit  salvation,  for  it  is  nothing  else  than  spiritual 
suicide — starving  the  soul  to  death.  Prayer,  for- 
get it  never,  is  the  soul's  food,  and  you  can  no 
more  dispense  with  nourishment  for  the  soul 
than  you  can  do  without  sustenance  for  the  body. 

All  life  needs  some  kind  of  foodstuff  for  its  sup- 
port. Indeed,  it  is  true  to  say  that  the  organic 
world  is  marked  off  from  the  inorganic  precisely 
by  this,  that  whereas  the  latter  is  capable  of  no 
kind  of  nourishment,  the  former,  on  the  contrary, 
can  only  live  and  thrive  on  a  diet  suitable  to  it. 


86  What  of  To-Day  ? 

The  crystal  may  seem  to  grow,  but  in  reality 
it  does  not ;  whereas  the  organism  does  grow  and 
wax  strong,  because  it  absorbs  into  its  system  some 
kind  of  foodstuff  which  it  transforms  into  its  own 
substance. 

Ask  yourselves  why  the  flowers  in  our  public 
parks  or  gardens  retain  for  so  long  their  beauty, 
colour  and  characteristic  loveliness  ?  It  is  because 
they  support  themselves  and  are  nourished  by 
such  elements  as  carbon,  oxygen  and  hydrogen 
which,  drawn  under  the  stimulus  of  light  and 
heat  and  rain  into  the  laboratories  of  root,  stem 
and  leaf,  are  there  manufactured  into  substances 
fitted  finally  to  build  up  the  fibre  of  their  wood 
and  the  delicacy  of  their  petals. 

What  we  know  of  life  in  our  gardens  is  true 
of  life  in  our  fields,  life  in  animals  and  in  man 
himself.  We  all  recognise  that  not  to  eat  is  to 
starve  to  death.  The  more  the  work  done  by  a 
human  body,  or  for  the  matter  of  that  by  an 
animal  body,  the  more  regular  and  the  more 
nourishing  must  be  the  food  or  fodder  provided 
for  its  support.  We  must  charge  the  battery, 
coal  the  engine,  feed  the  animal. 

Now  to  turn  to  the  soul.  No  human  soul, 
no  human  being  can  hope  to  live,  to  keep  in 
health,  and  to  grow  spiritually  strong  unless  he 
is  fed  regularly  on  the  food  of  prayer.  "My 
bones  are  dried  up,  because  I  have  forgotten 
to  eat  my  bread." 

Not  to  pray  is  to  starve,  and  to  starve  one's 


The  Weapon  of  Prayer       87 

soul  to  death  through  one's  own  fault  is  to 
commit  spiritual  self-slaughter. 

Someone  will  say:  "But  unfortunately  the 
claims  of  modern  life  are  so  constantly  pressing 
and  urgent  that  there  is  no  time  left  for  the 
work  of  prayer."  To  this  excuse  I  can  but 
answer :  '  There  is  such  a  thing  as  making 
time.  And  we  make  time  for  one  duty  by 
robbing  another  of  less  importance  of  some  of 
the  time  usually  allotted  to  it.  To  say  there  is 
no  time  for  prayer  is  like  telling  one  there  is 
no  time  for  sleep  and  no  time  for  meals."  I 
repeat  it,  time  must  be  made  for  prayer  lest 
otherwise  we  die  of  inanition  and  spiritual 
anaemia.  Cannot  we  manage  to  spend  less  time 
on  newspaper,  magazine  and  romance-reading 
and  so  create  quite  a  series  of  daily  moments  for 
spiritual  reading,  and  for  prayer  both  mental  and 
vocal  ? 

'  But,"  it  will  be  urged,  "  prayer  is  so  irksome, 
and  it  is  so  hard  to  persevere  in  it.  It  is  all  easy 
enough  to  pray  when  the  music  is  entrancing, 
and  you  feel  like  praying,  but  just  to  sink  to  your 
knees  morning  and  night  and  say  your  prayers 
is  dull,  distracting  work,  and  little  or  no  good 
can  come  from  it."  Well,  there's  the  rub.  No 
doubt  prayer  is  a  work,  an  effort  and  a  tremendous 
test  of  loyalty  and  love.  But  keep  at  it,  persevere 
in  it  and  you  will  with  its  golden  key  unlock  the 
treasury  of  heaven  and  draw  the  grace  and  bless- 
ing to  relish  what  is  right  and  just,  and  to  win  the 


88  What  of  To-Day  ? 

constant  enjoyment  of  God's  blessing  to  be 
pressed  from  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus  by  the 
prayer  of  the  persevering.  Let  me  illustrate 
what  I  mean  by  the  example  of  the  Syro-Phceni- 
cian  woman.  What  a  lovely  story  hers  is !  Just 
listen  to  this : 

Jesus,  accompanied  by  the  disciples,  was 
making  His  way  toward  the  coast  on  the  north- 
west of  the  highlands  of  Galilee.  A  rumour  of 
the  approach  of  the  Wonder-worker  seems  to 
have  been  noised  abroad  ;  for  somewhere  between 
the  coasts  of  Sidon  and  Tyre  there  lived  a  poor 
woman  with  an  only  child  who  was  possessed  of  a 
devil ,  to  whom  itwas  reported  that  Jesuswas  coming 
that  way.  How  many  years  that  poor  child  had 
been  afflicted,  or  how  many  remedies  that  poor 
mother  had  applied  in  vain,  I  know  not ;  all  I  know 
is  this:  that  so  soon  as  she  heard  of  Our  Lord's 
rumoured  presence  in  the  neighbourhood,  forth- 
with she  set  out,  resolved  not  to  come  back  till 
her  prayer  was  heard.  Oh!  I  fancy  I  can  see  her 
so  worn  by  sorrow,  so  radiant  with  hope,  hurrying 
ever  forward  like  one  beside  herself,  asking  at 
every  hamlet,  and  of  each  chance  passer-by,  such 
questions  as  these  :  "  Have  you  seen  Him?  "  "  Is 
He  coming  this  way  ?  "  "Is  He  healing  diseases  ? ' ' 
Onward  she  leaps,  rather  than  runs,  till  at  length 
her  joy  knows  no  bounds.  In  the  distance,  per- 
haps, through  a  cleft  in  the  hillside,  she  sees  a 
dark  moving  mass.  Straining  her  eyes,  she  runs 
forward,  springs  to  the  ledge  of  a  projecting  rock 


The  Weapon  of  Prayer       89 

by  the  way,  where  she  may  be  seen  as  well  as  see, 
and  then,  almost  before  Jesus  is  within  hearing 
distance  of  her,  she  wails  out — it  was  like  a  wail  of 
the  wind — the  piteous  cry  :  "  Have  mercy  on  me, 
O  Lord,  Thou  Son  of  David,  for  my  daughter  is 
grievously  troubled  with  a  devil."  Nearer  and 
nearer  the  Physician,  surrounded  by  His  band  of 
followers,  approaches.  Again  and  again,  till  her 
voice  grows  hoarse,  the  mother  repeats  her  cry, 
"  Have  pity  on  me."  The  procession  is  abreast 
of  her,  has  passed  her:  and  Jesus,  Who  had  said, 
u  Ask  and  you  shall  receive,"  answered  her  not  a 
word,  returned  her  not  a  look.  Nothing  daunted 
or  discouraged,  leaping  once  more  into  the  road 
and  pushing  her  way  among  the  throng,  she  lays 
hold  of  the  disciples,  begging  of  them  to  tell  Him 
her  sad  story;  but  it  was  all  of  no  avail.  They 
bade  her  hold  her  peace  and  not  trouble  them 
with  her  frantic  cries  and  gestures.  And  when 
by  no  means  they  could  get  rid  of  her,  turning  to 
Our  Lord  they  asked  Him  to  send  her  away. 
Jesus,  Who  it  would  seem  from  St.  Mark's  report 
of  the  incident,  was  on  His  way  into  some  neigh- 
bouring house,  stopped  and  turning  to  the  dis- 
tracted suppliant,  said  to  her,  "  I  was  not  sent  but 
to  the  sheep  that  are  lost,  of  the  house  of  Israel." 
Then,  perhaps,  it  was  that,  crossing  the  threshold, 
He  passed  out  of  sight.  Oh,  my  friends,  our  Divine 
Lord's  Heart  suffered  far  more  than  the  poor 
woman's  by  this  delay  in  the  answer  to  her  peti- 
tion ;  but  among  other  reasons  for  it  there  was  the 


90  What  of  To-Day? 

sad  necessity  of  teaching  us,  through  her,  to  per- 
severe in  prayer.  The  valiant  woman,  who  was 
quick  to  recognise  in  His  Face  and  Voice  the 
mercy  in  store  for  her,  all  unbidden  followed  Him 
into  the  house,  where,  falling  prone  on  her  face 
in  adoration,  she  sobbed  out  from  a  breaking 
heart  the  petition  :  "  Lord,  help  me  !  "  See  her, 
look  at  her,  and  learn  how  to  make  a  way  unto  the 
Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus.  In  words  intelligible 
enough  to  one  who  was  a  Syro-Phoenician,  Jesus 
said  to  her :  "  It  is  not  good  to  take  the  bread  of 
the  children  and  to  cast  it  to  the  dogs."  Upon 
this  I  can  see  the  suppliant  raising  her  head  from 
the  ground,  clasping  her  hands,  looking  Him  full 
in  the  face,  and  sure  of  His  sympathy  now,  re- 
plying: "Yea,  Lord,  for  the  whelps  also  eat  of 
the  crumbs  that  fall  from  the  table  of  their  master  " 
— as  though  she  would  say :  "  I  do  not  ask  to  be 
treated  as  a  member  of  the  family,  or  as  a  guest, 
or  even  as  a  servant :  provided  only  I  may  belong 
to  the  Master  of  the  house,  it  is  enough  for  me 
to  be  the  whelp  under  His  table ;  for  there  I  shall 
not  be  forgotten  by  Him  Who  remembers  all  and 
fills  every  creature  with  benediction." 

The  Chanaanite  had  asked,  and  received  not ; 
had  sought,  and  found  not ;  and  now  she  knocked, 
and  it  was  opened  to  her.  Out  from  that  door, 
forth  from  that  Heart,  came  the  words  that  have 
rung  through  the  ages:  "Oh,  woman,  great  is 
thy  faith;  be  it  done  to  thee  as  thou  wilt."  Per- 
severe in  prayer. 


The  Weapon  of  Prayer       91 

Now,  let  me  pass  on  to  mental  prayer.  What 
a  fine  tonic  for  the  soul  is  contemplation  and  medi- 
tation. It  enlightens  the  mind,  strengthens  the 
will  and  inflames  the  heart  as  no  other  spiritual 
exercise  can  possibly  do.  But  you  will  say :  "  It  is 
quite  impossible  to  meditate  in  the  rush  and  fever 
of  modern  life.  Besides,  even  if  one  had  the 
leisure,  the  inclination  would  be  wanting.  I  am 
not  at  all  clever,  and  I  could  no  more  plough 
through  a  meditation  than  I  could  aviate,  or  lift 
myself  up  by  my  shoe-strings. ' '  There  is  no  doubt 
meditation,  like  any  other  exercise,  is  difficult 
without  practice.  Piano-playing,  violin  exercise, 
painting  and  dancing,  or  even  games,  golf  and 
cricket  and  football,  need  to  be  practised  to  make 
oneself  efficient  in  them.  It  is  the  same  with 
prayer.  But  follow  me,  and  let  me  show  you  that 
meditation  is  not  so  difficult  as  it  seems.  Let  me 
suppose  you  are  going  to  take  for  your  subject 
of  meditation  the  text :  "And  He  said  to  all.  If 
any  man  will  come  after  Me,  let  him  deny  himself, 
and  take  up  his  cross  and  follow  Me."  Well,  I 
should  pause  to  remind  myself  that  our  Lord  "  said 
to  all,"  so  that  there  is  no  exception  to  the  case  ;  in 
fact  He  goes  on  to  say  emphatically,  "  if  any  one  will 
come  after  Me,"  therefore,  if  I  want  to  come  after 
Him,  I  too  must  make  up  my  mind  there  is  only  one 
way  of  doing  it — I  toomust  deny  myself,  take  up  my 
cross,  and  follow  Him — I  notice  that  our  Lord  says, 
*  *  If  anyone  will  come . ' '  His  service  is  no  slavery, 
but  free,  it  is  will-service.  The  object  in  going 


92  What  of  To-Day? 

after  Him  is  just  this,  to  get  near  Him  and  become 
like  Him.  The  Christian  religion  clearly  enough 
is  one  of  self-denial  and  self-conquest.  I  must  cut 
off  what  is  sinful,  what  is  dangerous,  what  is  inex- 
pedient. There  is  no  mistake  about  it,  this  religion 
of  the  Crucified  is  no  easygoing,  Sunday  dress 
affair  ;  it  is  a  probing,  a  chastening,  a  pruning 
business.  It  is  always  cutting  off,  or  burning  away 
some  growth  or  tendency  which  might  prove  fatal 
to  the  soul  if  allowed  to  have  its  own  way.  It  is 
not  a  Sunday  practice,  but  a  daily  effort.  To  deny 
oneself  is  not  enough,  to  take  up  one's  cross  just 
now  and  then  will  not  serve  our  purpose.  As  we 
are  to  follow  Christ  all  the  time ,  we  must  take  up  the 
cross  daily,  maybe  hourly,  and  it  is  to  be  done  not 
under  compulsion,  as  when  Simon  of  Cyrene 
helped  Christ  to  bear  His,  but  it  is  to  betaken  up 
with  both  hands,  even  if  it  is  a  burden  from  the 
battle-front,  and  lifted  like  a  precious  burden  till 
it  is  planted  beside  the  Master  on  Calvary.  How 
small  and  insignificant  it  will  then  look,  standing 
beside  His  !  Mary  beside  Christ,  you  beside  your 
dead  or  wounded  husband,  father  or  child. 

Having  come  to  grips  with  the  lesson  conveyed 
by  the  text  or  message,  go  on  to  unfold  the  reasons 
appealing  with  special  force  to  you  for  accepting 
it.  In  the  present  instance  the  chief  reasons  for 
taking  up  your  cross  and  following  Our  Lord  will 
be  because  He  bids  you  to  do  so,  because  it  would 
be  splendid  to  follow  such  a  leader,  and  would 
inevitably  result  in  the  cross  being  exchanged,  at 


The  Weapon  of  Prayer       93 

the  end  of  life's  march,  for  a  crown — the  crown  of 
life — incorruptible  and  ever  glorious. 

Then,  with  these  motives  of  action  before  your 
mind,  the  will  becomes  inspired  and  impelled 
to  make  good  and  strong  resolutions  to  follow 
Christ,  and  so  you  will  rise  from  the  struggle 
of  meditation,  like  a  soldier  called  to  the  front, 
determined  in  life  and  in  death  to  fight  on  the 
side  of  your  Captain  King. 

Lately  I  have  spent  not  a  little  time  in  the 
camps  of  some  of  the  divisions  now  gone  to  the 
fighting  area.  What  most  of  all  struck  me  in 
my  visits  to  the  men  was  their  fine  soldierlike 
appearance  and  bearing.  Both  infantry  and 
cavalry  looked  well  cared  for,  well  fed,  and  well 
armed.  Indeed,  you  only  had  to  wander  through 
the  camps,  and  to  see  the  stores,  and  watch  the 
cooks  at  work  to  be  satisfied  that  the  British 
soldier  of  to-day  is  done  well,  and  he  knows, 
and  acknowledges  it.  Every  Christian  is  a 
soldier — he  too  needs  the  rations  of  prayer  and 
the  drill  of  spiritual  exercise  to  fit  him  for  service 
in  the  field  of  spiritual  combat.  Without  prayer 
the  Christian  is  like  a  soldier  without  weapons, 
he  is  not  ready  for  the  fighting  line.  Get  ready, 
get  trained  in  the  School  of  Christ :  "  Esto  miles," 
be  a  soldier.  Many  a  wounded  officer,  gunner 
and  trooper  has  assured  me  that  in  the  trenches, 
and  in  the  open  under  fire,  men  who  thought  they 
could  not  pray,  prayed  with  the  terror  of  saints. 

It  is  my  conviction  that  what  has  brought  on 


94  What  of  To-Day? 

this  overdue  war  has  been,  among  other  causes, 
our  neglect  of  prayer,  of  religion.  In  England, 
as  well  as  in  France,  God  and  God's  command- 
ments have  been  ignored,  spurned,  defied.  In 
France  irreligion  has  been  a  boast.  Not  only  have 
governments  vied  with  each  other  in  their 
attempts  to  quench  the  lights  of  heaven,  to  close 
Catholic  schools  and  clerical  seminaries,  but 
with  studied  thoroughness  the  name  of  God  has 
been  blotted  out  of  school  books,  and  the  tokens 
of  religion  have  been  everywhere  torn  down  and 
a  black  mark  set  against  any  official  who  ventured 
even  to  go  inside  a  church.  I  will  not  dwell  on  the 
treatment  meted  out  to  religious  of  either  sex, 
but  let  me  just  say  that  the  dechristianisation  of 
France  has  been  carried  out  with  the  ruthless  logic 
of  a  syllogism.  France  turned  Religion  out  of 
the  country  and  slammed  the  door  in  her  face. 

As  for  England,  she  has  not  flaunted  her 
irreligion  in  one's  face.  Here  in  England  we 
are  not  as  logical  and  virulent  and  violent  as  in 
France,  but  for  all  that,  we  have  habitually  left 
God  out  of  our  reckoning.  His  wishes  have 
had  little  or  no  weight  with  us.  As  a  nation  we 
have  been  getting  farther  and  farther  away  from 
vital  Christianity.  Among  the  leisured  classes 
has  there  been  that  reverence  for  God  and  that 
Sunday  observance  once  so  characteristic  of 
this  country?  From  Friday  to  Tuesday  have 
not  men  and  women  in  high  society  been  in- 
dulging in  revels  on  the  river,  or  in  orgies  in 


The  Weapon  of  Prayer       95 

country-houses,  or  in  joy-rides  in  motors.  As  a 
matter  of  fact  Sunday  has  been  the  busiest  day 
in  the  week,  not  only  for  so-called  smart  people, 
but  for  their  domestics  and  hangers-on  also. 
Then  look  at  the  wilful,  wanton  extravagance, 
the  lust  of  luxuries,  the  waste  of  money,  of  time, 
of  talent,  of  virtue,  of  opportunities.  And  all 
this  wanton  dissipation  has  been  carried  on  in 
presence  of  servants  who  pass  it  on  wholesale 
to  the  shopkeeper,  who  retails  it  across  the 
counter  to  the  man  in  the  street,  till  what  with 
the  Press,  the  shopkeeper,  and  the  loiterers,  the 
sins  of  society  have  become  common  property, 
and  as  the  fashions  of  to-day  get  down  to  villa- 
dom  and  the  slums  to-morrow,  so  the  vices  now 
in  vogue  in  the  West  End  are  copied1  in  all  their 
grossness  and  vulgarity  as  soon  as  possible  in  the 
East  End.  The  poet  drew  no  false  picture  of 
the  luxury-loving  English  lad  when  he  described 
him  as  one : 

"  Whose  gods  were  luxury  and  chance." 

Someone  will,  no  doubt  find  fault  with  me 
for  daring  to  call  the  attention  of  my  country- 
men to  their  vices,  which  have  provoked  the 
Almighty,  and  helped  to  bring  about  this  war- 
slaughter  which  is  so  terribly  scourging  us  for 
our  sins.  But  how  have  we  been  persistently 
and  constantly  treating  God  ?  No  private  prayer 
in  the  week,  and  no  public  service  on  Sunday. 
In  the  West  End  of  London,  I  do  not  believe  five 


96  What  of  To-Day? 

per  hundred  of  society  have  been  in  the  habit 
of  going  to  church  during  the  season.  If  with 
Catholics  the  case  is  different,  you  must  remem- 
ber we  have  to  go  to  Mass  on  Sundays  ;  it  is  with 
us  a  sacred  duty.  Do  the  working-class  go  any 
better  than  the  leisured  classes?  I  very  much 
fear  they  do  not. 

A  nation  that  neglects  its  religious  duties  will 
easily  fall  a  prey  to  the  vice  of  race-suicide,  and 
to  immodesty  in  dress,  which  during  the  past  few 
years  has  been  growing  more  and  more  offensive, 
and  more  and  more  expressive  of  our  decadence 
in  a  moral  sense.  We  have  fallen  into  the  sins  of 
the  cities  of  the  plains  due  to  "fullness  of  bread 
and  idleness." 

May  this  murderous  war,  turning  England 
into  a  house  of  mourning,  open  our  eyes  to  our 
past  follies,  and  bring  us  to  repentance  with  re- 
solves not  to  fall  back  into  our  sins  when  the 
ghastly  strain  of  the  struggle  is  relaxed  and  we 
return  slowly  to  peace,  weeping  over  our  dead. 

May  we  as  a  nation  return  to  God,  and  con- 
vert Sunday  into  a  day  of  worship  as  well  as  of 
recreation.  It  is  not  golfing  on  Sunday  of  which 
I  complain,  but  spending  all  day  at  it,  without  a 
thought  of  God,  without  an  idea  of  our,  or  our 
servants',  need  of  prayer — our  true  spiritual  food. 

Let  us  put  order  into  our  lives,  and  live  by 
some  sort  of  rule,  and  not  by  the  whim  of  the 
hour,  or  the  fashion  of  the  moment,  or  the  chance 
for  amusement. 


The  Weapon  of  Prayer       97 

For  some  time  to  come  we  shall  have  upon 
our  hands  not  only  wounded  soldiers,  and  the 
families  of  those  who  are  doing  the  fighting  for 
us,  but  we  shall  have  to  pay  special  attention  to 
other  sections  of  the  community  who  will  be 
brought  to  actual  starvation  by  this  war-scourge 
if  we  help  them  not — actors  and  actresses,  dress- 
makers, tailors,  florists,  jewellers,  painters, 
builders,  and  hosts  of  others  too  numerous  to 
catalogue.  We  shall  have  many  pressing  calls 
upon  our  charity. 

May  God  draw  blessings  for  us  out  of  this  de- 
vastating war,  and  may  He  bring  us  to  see  and  to 
acknowledge  that  to  bear  the  burden  of  life  as  it 
is  to-day  weighing  upon  us,  we  must  sink  to  our 
knees  before  Him,  and  proclaim  publicly  before 
the  world  that  He  is  our  God  and  we  are  His 

people. 

"We  come  to  Thee,  sweet  Saviour, 
Thou  wilt  not  ask  us  why, 
We  cannot  live  without  Thee, 
Still  less  without  Thee  die." 

Must  Sunday  go?  No,  but  it  must  be  con- 
verted into  a  day  to  renew,  to  re-create  soul  and 
body — sending  man  into  the  week  strong  to  bear 
God's  will,  and  to  do  his  life's  work  and  duty. 


H 


XII 
ANOTHER  WAR  TO  WAGE 

THE  war  which  each  one  of  us  has  to  wage  is,  as 
Washington  said,  on  the  territory  under  his  own 
hat.  It  is  much  easier  to  get  inspired  with  the 
passion  to  fight  some  foreign  foe  than  to  rise  up 
against  one  so  native  and  intimate  as  oneself.  Yet 
General  Nogi  used  to  tell  his  Japanese  troops  that, 
till  a  man  had  learned  to  fight  and  conquer  himself, 
he  was  not  properly  equipped  * '  to  take  on  ' '  anyone 
else.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  we  British  have  been 
holding  our  own,  and  have  reported  ourselves  to 
the  Germans  in  a  very  telling  manner,  and  we  have 
proved  our  dynamic  force  in  every  engagement  in 
which  our  troops  have  flung  themselves  against 
armies  five  times  their  number.  We  can  fight 
others  all  right. 

Now  comes  the  time  to  turn  the  weapons  of 
warfare  upon  ourselves.  Know  thyself,  fight  thy- 
self, conquer  thyself  are  bits  of  advice  full  of  tough 
meaning.  They  hold  plenty  of  meat  on  the  bone. 
Let  us  wrestle  with  them  and  get  at  their  full 
significance. 

When  a  man  has  reached  self-knowledge  there 
is  every  hope  of  his  achieving  self-conquest,  self- 

,98 


Another  War  to  Wage       99 

realisation.  I  do  not  think  a  Britisher  can  do 
better  work  for  God,  or  King  or  Country,  than  to 
take  himself  in  hand,  determining  to  make  the  best 
of  himself.  After  all,  what  mission  can  be  finer  or 
nobler  than  to  build  up  a  personal  character  of 
which  we  ne*ed  not  be  ashamed,  a  character  formed 
and  fashioned  on  the  lines  laid  down  for  us  by  Him 
Who  was  the  noblest  of  the  noble,  the  bravest  of 
the  brave,  the  holiest  of  the  holy — Jesus  Christ  ? 
For  all  Christians  in  all  times  He  must  ever  be  not 
only  their  highest  pattern  of  virtue,  but  as  Ranke 
points  out,  the  greatest  incentive  to  its  practice. 

Look  the  world  over  and  you  will  not  come 
upon  better  raw  material  out  of  which  to  weave 
garments  of  glory  than  you  will  find  in  the  British 
Empire,  or  in  those  nations,  such  as  the  United 
States,  which  descend  so  largely  from  British  stock. 
To  be  satisfied  about  this  we  have  but  to  read  the 
war  events  as  they  are  chronicled  from  day  to  day 
in  the  Press.  In  the  opening  scenes  of  this  terrible 
tragedy  I  tried  to  keep  count  of  the  most  conspic- 
uous, thrilling  and  heroic  deeds  wrought  on  battle- 
fields by  our  men  in  khaki.  Soon  I  had  to  give 
up  the  attempt,  for  the  deeds  of  valour  succeeded 
each  other  so  rapidly  that  there  was  no  keeping 
pace  with  them.  One  could  but  read  on,  thank- 
ing God  our  brothers  in  arms  were  so  splendid, 
and  so  irresistible  when  at  close  quarters  with  the 
enemy.  Whether  overwhelmed  by  numbers  or 
shattered  by  shell,  the  British  troops  seem  to  take 
it  all  in  the  day's  work.  They  are  never  beaten,  for 


ioo  What  of  To-Day  ? 

they  refuse  to  go  under,  no  matter  what  hail  of  fire 
may  find  them  and  riddle  their  ranks.  It  is  some- 
thing to  be  proud  of,  to  be  linked  by  chains  of 
affinity  to  men  who  march  on  day  and  night  without 
halting,  who  reach  entrenchments  in  which  they 
stand  waist-deep  in  water,  where  they  are  drenched 
to  the  skin,  famished  with  hunger,  tortured  with 
undressed  wounds,  overcome  with  shell  fumes, 
oppressed  with  want  of  sleep,  and  held  back  from 
"  getting  at  'em,"  because  if  they  did  they  would 
be  mowed  down  to  a  man  under  the  withering, 
murderous  fire  from  guns  that  have  found  their 
range,  and  by  troops  far  superior  in  numbers. 
These  "Tommies"  hate  being  held  back  ;  they  do 
not  know  what  fear  is.  It  may  be  they  describe 
it  as  "  hell  let  loose,"  but  the  more  appalling  the 
situation  the  keener  they  are  to  plunge  into  it  and 
keep  at  it.  Take  one  instance  only  just  by  way  of 
showing  what  I  mean.  In  the  operations  round 
Cambrai  we  are  told  that : — 

"At  dawn  on  August  26th  the  position  was 
critical,  for  300,000  Germans  were  thrown  on  our 
lines  with  the  known  intention  of  wiping  out 
the  British  Army.  Seven  hundred  guns  were 
trained  upon  the  heroic  force,  and  the  pressure 
on  the  extreme  left,  where  the  3rd,  4th  (now 
moving  up),  and  5th  Divisions  were  under 
General  Sir  Horace  Smith-Dorrien,  was  so  great 
that  he  could  not  carry  out  the  intended  further 
retirement.  The  force  held  tight  and  fought 
with  courage  and  resource.  Thus  far  the  Ger- 


Another  War  to  Wage      101 

mans  had  succeeded  in  their  plans.  They  had 
tied  us  down  to  a  position,  and  numbers  they 
calculated  would  then  prevail  to  overwhelm  our 
force.  The  numbers  came.  Companies,  bat- 
talions, and  brigades  deployed  in  endless  succes- 
sion, but  only  to  be  destroyed  by  the  splendid 
shooting  of  the  British  Army,  and  soon  the  field 
was  strewn  with  ramparts  of  dead  which  obscured 
the  field  of  vision.  At  places  some  of  our  men 
in  the  lulls  of  the  firing  had  to  run  out  to  these 
heaps  to  obtain  warning  of  the  next  approach, 
and  the  Germans  halted  at  the  masess  of  the  fallen 
and  used  them  as  cover.  Thousands  upon  thou- 
sands of  the  enemy  were  shot  down  and  replaced 
by  thousands  more.  The  Gloucester  Battalion 
was  one  of  those  most  hotly  assailed.  During  the 
action  a  German  aeroplane,  flying  the  French  flag, 
came  over  the  line,  but  a  machine-gun  succeeded 
in  bringing  it  to  earth.  Many  a  deed  worthy  of 
the  Victoria  Cross  was  done  on  August  the  26th. 
Two  men  were  seen  bringing  in  a  wounded  sol- 
dier under  a  terrific  fire,  and  another  left  the  lines 
in  the  face  of  the  advancing  Germans  to  carry 
back  a  fallen  comrade  in  a  party  which  was  par- 
tially cut  off,  but  was  rescued  by  the  4th  Dragoon 
Guards  in  a  gallant  charge." 

Well  may  we  be  proud,  I  repeat,  of  men  who 
bring  such  glory  to  our  flag,  and  prove  they  are 
made  of  stuff  that  cannot  shrink,  lose  colour,  or 
be  torn  to  pieces.  Their  letters  home  paint  in  its 
true  pigments  the  horror  of  the  sights  around 


102  What  of  To-Day? 

them,  the  hell-like  fire  of  war,  but  they  assure 
you  that  they  want  to  be  nowhere  else  till  the  fight 
is  done,  and  the  foe  is  laid  low  for  ever.  "  I  chose 
to  come,  mother,"  writes  one  lieutenant.  "  I  am 
sharing  a  fighting  man's  lot  and  am  glad  of  it,  and 
am  thankful  I  am  alive  to  keep  plunging  into  it. 
My  only  trouble  jis  I  have  to  smoke  tea  leaves 
instead  of  tobacco.  Many  a  pal  would  give  his 
whole  kit  for  a  single  match." 

I  have  digressed,  but  I  want  to  bring  home  to 
you  the  fact  that  it  is  in  war-time  the  true  Briton 
reveals  his  inner  self  and  real  worth  to  his  fellows. 
It  is  when  there  is  no  time  for  self-consciousness 
that  the  Briton  displays  his  native  characteristics, 
and  proves  beyond  all  manner  of  doubt  that  there 
is  in  him  the  stuff  out  of  which  are  made  the 
heroes  of  Christianity — saints. 

Is  it  too  much  to  hope  and  believe  that  when 
this  ghastly  life-and-death  struggle  is  fought  to 
the  finish  we  shall  find  England  more  fully  re- 
cognising the  claims  of  God  and  the  need  of 
keeping  right  with  Him  ?  Perhaps  we  as  a  nation 
needed  this  awful  scourge  to  bring  us  to  our 
knees,  and  to  force  us  to  realise  we  cannot  run 
Republics  or  Empires  in  the  ways  of  peace  with- 
out God's  blessing  and  help.  One  thing  is  cer- 
tain, and  it  is  this,  that  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
our  Allies  who  had  never  bowed  their  heads  to 
God  since  the  day  of  their  first  Communion,  have 
been  reconciled  to  Him  by  confession  on  the 
battle-field,  and  have  gone  into  the  fight  as  into 


Another  War  to  Wage      103 

the  holiest  crusade  that  ever  rallied  men  to  a 
Christian  flag. 

Think  of  it,  60,000  priests  with  the  colours 
and  in  the  fighting  line,  absolving  their  fellows 
in  the  ranks,  and  saying  Mass  when  there  is  a  lull 
in  the  trenches,  or  wherever  they  can  set  up  a 
portable  altar.  Surely  this  must  tell  upon  a  land 
that  was  being  systematically  dechristianised  by 
successive  governments  glorying  in  their  infidel 
triumphs  over  Christianity.  Is  there  not  good 
reason  to  hope  that  the  people  of  France  and 
England  too  will  have  learned  from  this  war  that 
they  are  not  sent  here,  on  this  blood-stained  earth, 
merely  to  have  a  good  time,  to  enjoy  themselves, 
to  crown  themselves  with  roses  before  they  are 
withered,  to  plunge  into  every  inconceivable  vice, 
from  lust  to  gambling,  to  indulge  in  every  pastime, 
from  river-riotings  to  watching  prize-fights  in  the 
ring,  and  to  end  life  worn-out  and  famished  on 
the  garbage  of  sin,  and  the  Dead  Sea  apples  of 
despair? 

Perhaps  we  needed  a  terribly  rude  awakening 
to  bring  us  to  our  right  senses.  What  the  South 
African  War  failed  to  teach  I  really  believe  this 
world-war  will  bring  home  to  us.  This  latter, 
unlike  the  former  war,  is  a  religious  war,  is  a 
crusade  against  dechristianisation  and  barbarism. 
It  is  for  the  Christianity  of  Christ  against  the 
brutality  of  Nietzsche  that  we  are  contending ;  it 
is  for  the  peace  and  blessing  of  Christian  civilisa- 
tion that  the  Allies  are  pushing  through  the  storm 


io4  What  of  To-Day? 

of  battle  on  to  victory.  It  is  the  Cross  against  the 
Sword.  Not  only  our  soldiers  abroad,  but  our 
stay-at-homes  are  being  chastened  under  the  chas- 
tisement through  which,  without  exception,  they 
are  passing.  The  fire  is  burning  off  the  dross 
from  the  fine  gold  of  our  English  characters,  and 
our  peoples  on  every  rung  of  the  social  ladder 
stand  forth  to-day  in  the  searchlight  of  truth, 
clearer,  brighter  and  holier  than  ever  they  did  be- 
fore the  purging  fires  had  their  way,  testing  their 
worth  in  the  refining  flame.  A  young  wounded 
Guardsman  being  asked  in  hospital  by  his  father 
if  he  had  seen  much  infidelity  or  agnosticism 
among  his  brother  officers  on  active  service, 
replied  :  "  Father,  when  you  are  under  fire  there 
is  no  time  for  agnosticism  or  what  not ;  we  all 
just  call  upon  God  and  fight  for  all  we  are 
worth." 

Is  it  not  the  same  at  home  ?  Have  not 
mothers,  wives,  daughters  and  lovers  in  war-time 
just  dropped  their  Naturalism  or  Humanitarian- 
ism,  their  Christian  Science,  their  Higher  Criti- 
cism, their  so-called  Agnosticism  and  Modernism, 
and  with  faces  buried  in  their  hands  have  they  not 
"wept  their  sad  bosoms  empty"  pleading  with 
God  for  His  protection  on  those  in  the  front,  and 
for  strength  and  courage  for  dear  ones  left  behind  ? 
This  war  has  brought  more  honour  and  glory  to 
God  than  a  hundred  years  of  peace.  Never  was 
there  so  much  prayer,  so  much  sympathy,  so 
much  kindness,  so  much  self-control  and  self- 


Another  War  to  Wage      105 

sacrifice  conspicuous  in  all  walks  of  life  as  there 
is  to-day  in  England. 

God  knows  that  we  shall  need  His  help  and 
grace  more  than  ever  when  this  hellish  war  with  all 
its  fiendish  machinations  is  done  with.  We  must 
go  into  spiritual  training,  so  that  later  on  there 
may  be  no  reaction,  no  peace  with  self,  but 
thoroughly  sustained  warfare  against  that  mob  of 
passions  which  now,  for  the  moment,  held  down 
in  the  dungeons  of  our  lower  selves,  will  attempt 
in  the  day  of  victory  to  break  loose  and  wreck  the 
palace  of  our  souls,  dethroning  and  making  riot 
in  the  innermost  sanctuary  of  the  heart.  Know 
thyself,  fight  thyself,  conquer  thyself  now.  Put 
method  into  your  life,  live  by  some  well-thought- 
out  scheme  of  action  ;  have  some  fixed  hour  for 
rising,  and  definite  moments  for  prayer,  and  some 
work  of  mercy  which  under  all  circumstances  you 
will  continue  to  practise.  Do  not  poison  the 
well  of  life  by  desultory  reading,  and  do  not 
undermine  your  nervous  system  by  incessant 
cigarette  smoking,  or  other  nerve-destroying 
practices.  Choose  your  friends,  and  let  them  be 
not  only  congenial  but  uplifting  and  bracing  as  a 
sea-breeze.  But,  above  all  things,  make  religion 
the  biggest  factor  in  your  life.  "It  is  all  or 
nothing,"  sings  the  poet.  Let  your  religion  be  to 
you  what  I  have  found  it  to  be  to  soldiers  who 
are  fighting  for  us  at  the  front.  Listen  to  this. 
Lately  I  was  in  the  New  Forest  where  20,000  of 
our  men  were  encamped  waiting  for  orders  to 


io6  What  of  To-Day? 

start  for  the  front.  It  would  have  moved  the 
least  emotional  to  tears  to  have  visited  that  Satur- 
day the  beautiful  little  Gothic  church  outside 
Lyndhurst.  It  kept  filling  with  men  in  khaki 
from  the  early  afternoon  till  late  at  night.  There, 
in  the  calm  before  the  storm,  men  on  the  staff 
and  in  the  ranks  were  kneeling  without  note  of 
distinction  to  a  civilian  beside  one  another,  wait- 
ing to  take  their  turn  to  go  to  confession  and  re- 
ceive absolution.  It  was  all  done  so  unostenta- 
tiously, so  honestly,  and  thoroughly  that  the  most 
sceptical  could  not  have  watched  the  scene  with- 
out deep  emotion.  Some  were  married  men  with 
their  wives  and  little  ones  with  them,  while  more 
were  bright-eyed  boys  not  out  of  their  teens.  It 
made  no  difference,  they  all  went  through  their 
work  in  a  businesslike  way,  and  when  they  had 
done  their  penance  after  confession  not  a  'few 
crept  up  to  Our  Lady's  shrine  and  placed  a  lit 
candle,  or  else  a  plucked  flower  at  her  feet,  stay- 
ing on  to  say  their  rosary.  Next  morning  we  had 
two  Masses  in  camp.  Among  others  I  had  the 
Scots  Guards  at  mine.  It  was  a  picturesque  scene, 
in  a  sequestered  spot  outside  the  camp,  with 
forest  trees  forming  a  background  and  the  simple 
altar,  around  which  the  men  were  grouped,  look- 
ing all  the  more  solemn  and  in  dead  earnest  for 
the  sombre  colouring  of  their  khaki  uniforms. 
Seldom  have  I  felt  so  impressed  as  I  did  when 
after  the  Gospel  I  faced  these  magnificent  Guards- 
men and  gave  them  a  message  from  God  to 


Another  War  to  Wage      107 

take  to  the  front.  Their  sunburnt,  clean-shaven 
faces  and  deep-set  features  stood  out  so  grand 
against  the  russet-dyed  bracken  on  which  they  sat 
that  you  almost  fancied  you  could  already  see 
the  flame  of  victory  burning  on  their  foreheads. 
When  I  reminded  them  that  theirs  was  the  finest 
apostolate  to  which  ever  Guardsmen  had  been 
called,  and  that  the  war  into  which  they  were 
about  to  plunge  was  a  crusade  not  to  rescue  the 
Sepulchre  but  the  Gospel  itself  of  Christ  from 
hands  that  would  substitute  for  it  the  religion  of 
brute  force,  the  men  sat  up  so  stiffly  that  you 
might  have  thought  they  were  about  to  spring  to 
their  feet  and  feel  for  their  weapons  of  war.  I 
exhorted  them  to  return  from  the  seat  of  war  in 
the  same  Christian  spirit  in  which  they  were  set- 
ting out  to  it,  only  with  this  difference,  that  in- 
stead of  directing  their  weapons  of  wrath  upon  a 
foreign  foe  they  should  then  turn  them  upon  a 
foe  within  the  realm  of  their  own  souls,  their 
own  lower  restless  animal  natures,  which  if  let 
loose  might  as  readily  and  fatally  destroy  what 
was  far  more  rich  and  rare,  precious  and  sacred 
to  God,  than  the  priceless  treasures  of  Louvain 
or  Rheims,  namely,  their  Christian  heritage  with 
its  wealth  of  present  grace  and  promise  of  future 
glory. 

To  my  readers  I  repeat  my  parting  words 
to  the  Guards:  "You  are  not  your  own.  You 
are  bought  at  a  great  price."  Fight  then  the 
good  fight,  run  your  course,  keep  the  Faith 


io8  What  of  To-Day? 

till  you  exchange  it  for  triumph  in  the  land  of 
Victory. 

"  The  highest  Faith  makes  still  the  highest  man, 
For  we  grow  like  the  things  our  souls  believe, 
And  rise  or  sink  as  we  aim  high  or  low. 
No  mirror  shows  such  likeness  of  the  face 
As  Faith  we  live  by  of  the  heart  and  mind  ; 
"We  are  in  very  truth  that  which  we  love, 
And  Love,  like  noblest  deeds,  is  born  of  Faith." 


XIII 
"THERE   IS   NO  SIN!" 

THE  modern  world  is  very  busy  just  now  trying  to 
explain  away  sin.  We  are  assured  by  some  people 
that  sin,  as  such,  does  not  exist — in  other  words, 
is  an  illusion — and  that  moral  evil  is  merely 
the  failure  to  reach  some  ideal  or  metaphysical 
standard.  So  that,  as  you  cannot  blame  a  woman 
for  not  attaining  a  certain  standard  of  physical 
beauty,  so  neither  may  you  blame  a  man  for 
not  reaching  a  particular  standard  of  moral  holi- 
ness. We  are  told  that,  as  we  have  nothing 
but  pity  for  the  child  who  cannot  see  straight, 
so  we  must  feel  only  compassion  for  the  girl 
who  cannot  speak  straight.  If  we  were  to  judge 
sinful  actions,  therefore,  according  to  the  ideas 
of  this  school,  as  mere  failure  to  reach  some 
recognised  and  ideal  standard  of  morality,  we 
should  have  to  put  aside  all  thought  of  correction. 
We  could  not  in  decency  find  fault  with  one 
another,  and  the  necessity  for  either  law  or 
religion  would  be  gone. 

But  there  is  another  school  which  tells  us 
that  evil  is  the  outcome  of  ignorance ;  and  that 
as  we  advance  in  knowledge,  and  as  the  world 

1 09 


no  What  of  To-Day? 

grows  in  science,  this  moral  evil  will  be  swept 
away  as  darkness  is  dispelled  by  the  rising  sun. 
If  this  were  so,  then  would  the  learned  scientist 
be  the  most  innocent  member  of  society,  while 
the  child  in  its  mother's  arms  would  be  the 
most  criminal.  I  fail  to  discover  that,  because 
we  are  teaching  in  our  elementary  schools  all 
sorts  of  irrelevant  subjects  which  are,  in  too  many 
cases,  not  likely  to  be  of  the  slightest  use  to  the 
child  in  after  life,  the  younger  generation  is  so 
much  more  advanced  in  morality  and  religious 
thought  than  its  elders.  On  the  contrary,  I  find 
the  mechanic  and  the  man  in  the  street  think- 
ing that  they  now  know  enough  to  do  without 
religion  at  all. 

There  is,  again,  another  school  which  teaches 
us  that  there  can  be  no  such  thing  as  sin,  for 
the  very  good  reason  that  the  Almighty  cares 
little  for  what  we  do.  How,  so  runs  the  argu- 
ment, could  an  Omnipotent  Being  like  God 
trouble  Himself  as  to  the  words  or  actions  of 
such  insignificant  insects  as  ourselves  ?  It  would 
be  as  reasonable  for  us  to  investigate  the  moral 
attributes  of  the  flies  on  the  window-pane  as  for 
an  Almighty  God  to  attach  any  importance  to 
our  wholly  unimportant  doings.  This  position 
is  practically  indistinguishable  from  Atheism,  for 
though  that  particular  "ism,"  as  such,  is  not,  I 
am  assured,  now  looked  upon  with  favour  in 
the  best  circles,  what  else  is  the  habitual  ex- 
clusion of  the  thought  of  God  from  every 


There  is  no  Sin!'          m 

detail  of  our  daily  lives  but  a  denial  of  the 
Godhead? 

A  fourth  school  declares  that  whatever  moral 
evil  exists  in  the  world  is  the  outcome  of  modern 
civilisation,  the  result  of  social  inequalities,  which 
again  are  the  inevitable  product  of  the  conditions, 
political  and  economic,  under  which  we  live. 
The  remedy  for  this  state  of  things,  we  are 
taught,  must  be  looked  for  in  the  universal 
adoption  of  Socialism.  If  the  Socialists  get  their 
way,  property  will  be  abolished,  and  as  a  curiously 
illogical  consequence,  sin  will  cetise  to  exist. 
But  I  do  not  find  that  people  grow  morally 
better  in  the  measure  of  their  prosperity,  and 
though  in  theory  it  may  be,  and  ought  to  be, 
easy  to  be  virtuous  on  five  thousand  a  year,  we 
all  know  that  in  practice  the  possession  of  wealth 
brings  manifold  temptations  of  its  own. 

Lastly,  there  are  those  curiously-minded  people 
who  profess  to  regard  sin  as  something  negative 
rather  than  positive.  Sin  is  not,  they  maintain, 
with  all  the  air  of  philosophers,  so  much  an 
active  evil  as  a  privation  of  good.  It  is  like 
the  shadow  which  obscures  the  sun.  Like  those 
others  of  whom  I  have  spoken,  they  hazard  the 
opinion  that  sin  is  merely  a  failure  to  reach  a 
certain  standard  of  perfection,  that  it  is,  mon- 
strous as  the  theory  sounds,  when  stated  in  this 
bald  fashion,  an  imperfect  good. 

If  I  tell  a  lie  in  order  to  escape  punishment 
for  some  misdeed,  am  I  then  telling  the  truth 


ii2  What  of  To-Day  ? 

in  some  imperfect  way?  If  a  society  woman 
writes  a  garbled  and  venomous  memoir  of  one 
whom  she  has  called  her  friend,  and  passes  it 
on  to  the  public,  has  she  not  done  something 
more  positive  than  simply  failing  to  reach  a 
certain  standard  of  good?  She  has  indeed  used 
her  gifts  to  work  actual  harm.  She  is  poisoning 
the  moral  atmosphere,  and  she  knows  it,  and  is 
taking  money  for  that  evil  action.  Surely  it  is 
positive  sin,  not  comparative  good,  when  we  tell 
lies  about  one  another,  tear  one  another's  char- 
acters to  pieces,  and  repeat  scandal  and  gossip 
with  the  sole  excuse  that  "we  have  heard  it." 

In  acting  thus  we  have  done  something 
more  than  fail  to  reach  a  standard  of  perfec- 
tion. We  have  misused  our  freedom;  we  have 
played  the  part  of  a  criminal ;  and  that  is  how 
it  stands  before  God ;  and  every  human  being, 
in  his  innermost  conscience,  knows  and  con- 
fesses it. 

I  do  not  propose  to  waste  time  in  showing 
the  contradictory  nature  of  these  positions.  The 
point  I  want  to  emphasise  is  that  they  all,  in 
the  result,  amount  to  this :  that  men  and  women 
are  not  to  be  blamed  for  their  evil  actions ; 
that  there  is,  in  short,  no  such  thing  as  moral 
evil  in  the  sense  which  Christianity  attaches  to 
the  words.  It  is,  of  course,  admitted  that  a 
man  can  still  offend  against  his  neighbour,  that 
is  to  say,  Society  in  general,  but  in  that  case 
Society,  if  it  finds  him  out,  will  take  very  good 


"There  is  no  Sin!'          113 

care  to  punish  him  for  its  own  protection,  and 
the  modern  cynic  will  agree  that  it  serves  him 
right  for  being  such  a  fool  as  to  be  found  out. 

But  the  idea  that  any  of  us  can  sin,  in  the 
old-fashioned  sense,  against  God  or  ourselves, 
is  an  idea  which  the  preachers  of  this  new 
gospel  have  pronounced  to  be  obsolete.  Morality, 
then,  is  seen  to  be  a  mere  matter  of  law  or 
convention,  and  the  abominable  and  insidious 
nature  of  this  doctrine  can  be  realised  when  we 
consider  how  many  sins  there  are  which  neither 
the  State  nor  public  opinion  punishes  or  con- 
demns. The  list  of  positive  crimes,  such  as 
theft  or  murder,  which  must  obviously  be  kept 
under  in  the  interests  of  the  community,  is 
soon  exhausted ;  and  though  in  an  avowedly 
Christian  country,  public  opinion  might  be  ex- 
pected to  exercise  some  restraining  influence  on 
such  vicious  practices  as  are  not  amenable  to 
the  law,  the  miserable  truth  is  that  the  spread 
of  these  ideas  in  itself  threatens  to  disturb  the 
moral  balance  of  the  community,  so  that  public 
opinion  as  a  check  ceases  to  exist. 

Now,  I  do  not  wish  for  one  moment  to 
maintain  that  this  particular  age  in  which  we 
live  is  the  worst  the  world  has  ever  seen.  That 
would  be  an  absurdly  exaggerated  estimate.  But 
I  do  say  that  there  is  a  spirit  abroad  which 
contains  in  itself  such  potentialities  for  evil  as 
have  never  yet  existed  in  any  previous  era;  and 
my  chief  reason  for  that  belief  is  that  we  are 
i 


ii4  What  of  To-Day  ? 

rapidly  heading  towards  a  condition  in  which 
the  very  great  majority  of  people  will  fail,  as  so 
many  even  now  fail,  to  recognise  evil  when 
they  see  it.  If  you  do  not  realise  that  you  are 
living  in  and  breathing  a  poisoned  atmosphere, 
you  will  not  make  any  efforts  to  escape  from 
it,  and  therefore  it  becomes  a  serious  duty  for 
those  of  us  who  have  sufficient  moral  sense  left, 
not  only  to  make  a  firm  stand  against  these 
noxious  and  false  ideas,  but  to  endeavour,  by 
example  as  well  as  by  precept,  to  influence  the 
minds  and  souls  of  our  neighbours. 

I  have  already  admitted  that  the  morality  of 
the  present  day,  qua  morality,  is  not  worse, 
indeed  in  many  respects  it  is  better,  than  the 
morality  of  many  other  periods  of  history.  But 
even  Pagan  Rome,  at  its  worst,  indulged  in  its 
excesses  with  its  eyes  open.  Ovid  could  say : 
"I  see  the  better  things,  and  approve  them,  but 
follow  the  worse."  Cicero  was  not  forgetful  to 
tell  us  that  he  saw  the  evil,  but  the  ray  of  light 
was  extinguished  by  the  immoralities  within  him. 
So  long  as  human  nature  acknowledges  the 
existence  of  an  ideal,  and  recognises  that  its 
failure  to  reach  that  ideal  is  due  to  its  own 
miserable  weakness,  and  is  not  a  thing  to  be 
proud  of,  we  need  not  despair  of  the  morality 
of  any  age. 

But  when  preachers  arise,  who,  in  place  of 
the  pulpit,  make  use  of  the  far  easier  method  of 
influencing  the  public  through  the  arts,  through 


"There  is  no  Sin!'          115 

the  drama,  through  novels  and  poetry,  and  whose 
constant  cry  is  that  there  is  no  such  thing  as 
sin,  that  morality  is  a  convention,  and  that 
Nature  is  in  all  respects  a  better  guide  to  con- 
duct than  Conscience ;  when,  moreover,  we  see 
such  preachers  attracting  an  ever-growing  follow- 
ing among  the  young,  the  inexperienced,  and 
the  half-educated,  then,  indeed,  it  requires  an 
almost  superhuman  faith  to  continue  to  regard 
the  future  with  any  feelings  save  those  of  the 
deepest  despair. 

Self-deceit  is  the  deadliest  moral  poison  in 
the  world  ;  and  I  say  emphatically  that  the  worst 
criminal,  who  frankly  recognises  his  own  mis- 
deeds for  what  they  are,  is  in  a  healthier  moral 
condition  than  the  theorist  who  has  succeeded 
in  persuading  himself  and  others  that  to  be 
immoral  is  to  be  virtuous,  and  that  to  be  vicious 
is  to  be  free,  even  though  he  will  not  go  so 
far  as  to  practise  what  he  preaches. 


XIV 
"SOME  SORT  OF  RELIGION" 

SIDE  by  side  with  that  terrible  indifferentism  to 
spiritual  things,  which  has  been  such  a  marked 
characteristic  of  the  present  day,  there  exists  a 
curious  frenzy,  on  the  part  of  many  mentally 
emotional  people,  to  satisfy  their  starved  souls  by 
following  any  new  "  religion  "  that  sets  itself  up 
as  the  final  exposition  of  truth. 

Science  was  active  enough,  during  the  last 
century,  in  sweeping  away  from  men's  minds  all 
definite  forms  of  religious  beliefs,  but  a  reaction 
inevitably  followed  from  the  hopeless  materialism 
which  was  all  that  it  had  to  offer  the  starved 
human  heart.  Science  itself  has  had  to  give  up 
many  of  its  old  dogmatic  conclusions  in  view 
of  the  discoveries  of  recent  years,  and  men  and 
women  are  not  now  inclined  to  allow  science  to 
interfere  too  obtrusively  in  matters  that  are  out- 
side its  legitimate  province. 

Materialism,  then,  as  a  definite  theory  of  life, 
we  may  regard  as  dead,  and  apart  from  those 
Indifferentists  who  literally  do  not  give  a  thought 
to  spiritual  things,  and  of  whom,  for  the  moment, 
I  do  not  wish  to  speak,  men  and  women  are 

116 


"Some  Sort  of  Religion"     117 

recognising  that  some  kind  of  religion  is  necessary 
for  their  well-being,  that  man  has  a  higher  destiny 
than  merely  to  eat  and  drink  and  sleep  away  his 
life  on  earth,  and  that  there  is  somewhere  a  clue 
to  the  meaning  of  this  puzzling  scheme  of  things 
if  only  one  could  find  it. 

Well,  perhaps  the  clue  is  not  so  very  hard  to 
find,  but,  once  having  lost  it,  these  unfortunate 
people  give  themselves  an  enormous  amount  of 
trouble  and  anxiety  in  looking  for  it  in  every 
direction  except  the  right  one.  Hardly  do  we 
know  whether  to  pity  or  condemn  the  devotees — 
they  are  to  be  numbered  by  the  thousand — of 
such  pseudo-religions  as  Spiritualism,  Theosophy, 
Christian  Science,  and  other  still  vaguer  forms  of 
belief. 

Take  Spiritualism.  One  need  not  be  a  dis- 
believer in  the  genuineness  of  much  of  the  pheno- 
mena of  the  seance-room  to  shrink  with  horror 
from  the  notion  of  founding  a  religion  on  such  a 
basis.  To  me  it  is  a  most  extraordinary  and  pain- 
ful reflection  that  many  worthy  people,  who 
actually  call  themselves  Christians,  profess  to  find 
religious  comfort  in  these  spiritualistic  gather- 
ings, because  the  "communications"  and  "spirit 
messages  "  afford  evidence  of  the  reality  of  a 
life  beyond  the  grave. 

Now,  putting  aside  the  question  as  to  the 
worthlessness  or  otherwise  of  this  evidence,  is  it 
not  amazing  that  a  Christian  should  require  such 
proof  ?  It  is  more  than  amazing.  It  is,  in  fact, 


us  What  of  To-Day? 

impossible,  the  truth  being  that  these  people  are 
not  Christians  at  all.  That  is  to  say,  they  have 
never  grasped  the  elementary  principles  of  the 
religion  they  believe  themselves  to  hold,  and 
the  natural  result  is  that,  with  no  firm  ground 
of  faith  to  rest  on,  they  are  content  to  put 
their  trust  in  what,  at  best,  is  of  a  doubtful 
nature,  and  at  worst,  will  not  bear  thinking 
about. 

Even  more  astonishing,  if  that  be  possible,  is 
the  hold  that  Theosophy  has  got  over  so  many 
restless  minds  to-day.  A  religion  which  boasts 
that  it  teaches  "  the  essential  truths  which  lie  be- 
hind all  the  great  world  religions"  will  probably 
be  found  itself  to  contain,  if  only  by  accident, 
a  certain  modicum  of  truth.  And  this  very  fact 
constitutes  a  grave  danger  to  the  credulous  souls 
who  swallow  its  teachings  holus-bolus.  And  here 
again,  as  in  the  case  of  Spiritualism,  we  find  that 
apparently  one  can  accept  Theosophy  and  yet  re- 
main a  Christian !  The  explanation  would  seem 
to  be  that  the  Theosophists  undertake  to  point 
out  exactly  where  Christianity  is  right  and  where 
it  has  gone  wrong ;  where  the  Bible  may  be 
relied  upon,  and  where  it  is  obviously  in  error  ; 
and  how  far,  in  short,  it  is  safe  for  a  Christian 
to  hold  to  his  faith.  But  a  semi-Christian  is  not 
even  a  half-baked  Christian.  He  is  no  Christian 
at  all.  And  once  more  we  are  face  to  face  with 
the  saddening  and  appalling  fact  that  the 
Christianity  of  our  time  is  a  purely  nominal 


"Some  Sort  of  Religion"    119 

matter,  having  no  relation  to  the  truths  taught 
by  Christ  nearly  two  thousand  years  ago. 

I  should  be  loath  to  weary  the  reader  by  ex- 
amining the  claims  of  such  a  religion  as  Christian 
Science  to  call  itself  either  Christian  or  scientific. 
That  such  a  parody  of  Christianity  could  ever 
take  captive  the  mind  or  imagination  of  any 
human  being  would  be  unthinkable,  save  on  the 
hypothesis  I  have  already  suggested,  viz. :  that  its 
followers  have  not  the  smallest  conception  of  the 
meaning  of  Christianity,  and  no  atom  of  right  to 
call  themselves  followers  of  Christ. 

Nor  have  I  the  patience  to  discuss  the  innu- 
merable lesser  systems  which,  masquerading  as 
New  Thought  Centres,  or  Higher  Thought 
Circles,  attract  a  crowd  of  what  I  should  be  in- 
clined to  call  mental  parasites,  who,  without 
faith  themselves,  seek  to  regain  consciousness  of 
their  souls  by  leaning  on  some  other  more  self- 
satisfied  personality. 

Men  are  feeling  the  need  for  some  sort  of 
religion,  and  there  is  something  hopeful  in  the 
fact.  They  have  escaped  from  the  blank  horror 
of  Materialism,  but  are  still  groping  blindly  in 
the  darkness,  and,  though  they  may  be  feebly 
trying  to  "touch  God's  right  hand  in  that  dark- 
ness," they  will  never  succeed  till  they  learn  to 
eschew  these  devious  by-ways,  and  trust  them- 
selves wholly  and  unreservedly  to  Him.  We 
may  detest  the  materialistic  attitude  ;  but  it  is 
at  least  more  understandable  than  this  hybrid 


120  What  of  To-Day? 

Christianity.  For,  to  put  it  on  the  lowest  ground, 
what  spiritual  satisfaction  have  these  curious,  new 
semi-religions  to  offer  that  Christianity  has  not 
supplied  far  more  abundantly  for  the  last  nine- 
teen hundred  years? 

When  Christ  came  humanity  was  expiring  of 
suicidal  corruption.  Society  was  rotten  to  the 
core.  More  than  half  the  world  was  enslaved  to 
the  other  half,  and  that  other  was  enslaved  more 
hopelessly  to  its  own  passions.  Christianity 
purified  the  heart  of  Europe  from  its  grossness, 
and  the  tide  of  grace  having  passed  into  it,  there 
sprang  forth  from  it  the  Christian  family  with  its 
love  of  home  and  traditions  of  chivalry,  the 
Christian  church  and  abbey  with  their  religious 
life  and  the  care  of  God's  poor ;  Christian 
guilds  and  fraternities  for  the  protection  of  the 
arts  and  crafts  ;  Christian  hospitals  and  asylums 
for  the  shelter  of  the  sick  and  maimed,  Christian 
schools  and  universities  for  the  education  of  the 
feudal  lord  and  the  serf;  and  the  Christian 
nation  with  its  motto :  Pro  Deo,  Rege  et  Patria. 
Thus  did  Christianity  proclaim  and  practise  her 
true  ideal  of  the  universal  brotherhood  of  man. 

The  deadening  influence  of  Materialism  has 
brought  us  perilously  near  to  the  state  of  things 
prevailing  before  Christianity  finally  asserted  it- 
self. Vice  stalks  naked  and  unashamed  through 
our  great  cities,  and  multitudes  rush  hither  and 
thither,  seeking  for  some  safe  spiritual  guide, 
some  firm  rock  of  repose  for  their  agitated  souls 


"Some  Sort  of  Religion"    121 

in  Philosophy,  in  New  Thought,  in  Gnosticism 
or  even  Occultism,  wherein  they  strive  to  attain 
that  peace  of  mind  and  serenity  of  heart  which 
the  Master  reminds  us  "  the  world  cannot  give." 

What  Christianity  has  done,  Christianity  can 
and  will  do  again.  Meanwhile  those  who  refuse 
to  be  satisfied  with  its  ancient  teachings  attempt 
to  persuade  themselves  and  each  other  that  the 
great  work  accomplished  by  Christianity  in  times 
past  was  due  to  the  truths  of  moral  philosophy 
which  were  found  to  be  tied  up  with  what  are 
termed  the  "silly  superstitions  and  childish 
extravagances,"  suitable  perhaps  to  a  church  in 
her  infancy,  but  wholly  out  of  date  and  out  of 
place  in  her  growth  to  maturer  years  and  better 
sense. 

Truth  to  tell,  there  is  nothing  more  delusive 
than  this  comparison  between  the  teaching  of 
Christ  and  the  philosophy  of  the  pagan  world. 
Philosophy  hopes  to  cure  the  vices  of  human 
nature  by  appealing  to  the  head,  Christianity  by 
educating  the  heart.  To  dispense  with  the 
means  to  an  end  is  practically  to  abandon  the  end 
itself,  and  this  is  what  the  world  is  now  doing. 
One  after  another,  the  essential  dogmas  of  Chris- 
tianity are  being  quietly  put  aside  as  fond  inven- 
tions and  forgeries  of  superstition,  until  we  find 
even  the  Divinity  of  Christ  denied  by  those  who 
profess  to  follow  Him.  Divide  up  Christ  into 
the  Christ  of  Faith  and  the  Christ  of  History 
and  you  have  no  Christ  at  all.  Better  than  this 


122  What  of  To-Day  ? 

blasphemous  mockery  were  it  to  exclaim  with 
the  Jews  of  old:  "Away  with  Him,  crucify 
Him."  That  position  is,  at  any  rate,  intelligible  ; 
the  Modernists  have  not  even  that  merit. 

That  is  where  we  stand  to-day,  truly,  it  may  be 
said,  at  the  parting  of  the  ways.  Some  sort  of 
religion,  it  would  appear,  men  must  have.  Why, 
then,  should  they  reject  Christianity  and  follow 
after  these  new  strange  gods,  the  creation  of  their 
own  disordered  imagination?  With  Augustine 
of  Hippo  I  would  say  to  these  searchers  after 
mental  repose  :  Seek  what  you  seek,  but  seek 
it  not  where  you  seek  it.  Seek  it  in  Christ  our 
peace. 


XV 
A  TRIPLE  ALLIANCE 

IN  the  broader  sense  of  the  word,  religion  is 
clearly  as  necessary  to  the  individual,  as  it  has 
always  been  found  essential  to  the  well-being  of 
Society.  There  have  always  been,  and  there 
probably  will  always  be,  rebels  against  an  estab- 
lished or,  if  you  like,  conventional  religion  of 
a  particular  sort,  just  as  there  will  always  be 
malcontents  who  are  for  ever  seeking  to  destroy 
existing  social  conditions  with  reckless  disregard 
of  future  embarrassments.  Such  people  gener- 
ally arrogate  to  themselves  the  proud  title  of  Re- 
formers, but,  as  a  rule,  destruction  rather  than 
construction  is  the  end  of  their  endeavours. 
They  are,  in  fact,  little  better  than  pessimists 
who  look  for  ever  on  the  dark  side  of  things, 
or  officious  busybodies  anxious  to  meddle  in 
everybody  else's  affairs. 

But  this  matter  of  religion  is  a  serious  one, 
far  more  serious  than  the  anti-religionists  quite 
realise.  They  talk  lightly  and  gaily  of  "childish 
superstitions,"  and  "  antiquated  dogmas,"  yet 
their  case  against  religion,  in  its  special  sense, 
rests  entirely  upon  a  set  of  assumptions,  a 

123 


124  What  of  To-Day? 

bundle  of  opinions  which,  in  the  aggregate,  make 
up  their  own  religion,  much  as  they  dislike  to 
be  told  so. 

Life  has  a  nasty  knack  of  disillusioning  us  ; 
in  other  words,  as  we  grow  from  childhood 
to  manhood,  we  inevitably  lose  many  of  those 
beliefs  which,  as  children,  we  cherished  so  con- 
fidently. But  we  do  not  merely  lose  or  outgrow 
them.  We  replace  them  by  others.  No  man's 
mind  is  an  absolute  blank.  And  if  we  take 
away  from  him  his  faith  in  the  supernatural,  we 
do  not  thereby  deprive  him  of  the  faculty  of 
believing.  Strictly  speaking,  there  is  no  such 
thing  as  an  absolute  negation.  A  man  may 
deny,  but  his  denial  is  merely  another  form  of 
affirming,  and  the  most  materialistic  thinker  that 
ever  lived  would  probably  admit  that  he  believed 
in  the  evidence  of  his  senses. 

In  one  way  or  another,  then,  every  man 
holds  fast  to  a  belief  in  something,  and  the 
tendency  of  every  individual  is  to  exalt  his  belief 
into  a  religion,  in  the  sense  that  he  affirms  his 
belief,  and  no  other,  to  be  the  truth. 

In  the  last  century,  the  most  scientifically 
materialistic  age  that,  I  suppose,  the  world  has 
ever  known,  it  became  the  fashion  to  turn 
Science,  not  only  into  a  religion,  with  prophets 
and  dogmas  all  complete,  but  almost,  it  might 
be  said,  into  a  god.  If  Science  and  true  religion 
contradicted  each  other  at  any  point,  and  in 
those  days  such  issues  were  constantly  arising, 


A  Triple  Alliance  125 

the  question  was  supposed  to  be  settled  without 
further  discussion  on  the  ipse  dixit  of  Science. 
It  did  not  seem  to  occur  to  the  wise  men  of 
that  day  that  Science  itself  was  merely  a  ten- 
tative system,  often  a  working  hypothesis  only, 
liable  at  any  moment  to  be  upset  in  any  depart- 
ment by  further  discoveries.  Or  perhaps  I  should 
rather  say,  there  was  a  tacit  understanding  among 
materialists  that  scientific  progress  must,  in  the 
nature  of  things,  take  a  course  farther  and  farther 
away  from  religion. 

And  the  most  curious  part  of  the  matter  was 
that  the  scientific  prophets,  whose  whole  system 
had  been  built  up  by  many  years  of  patient 
endeavour  and  investigation  into  natural  causes, 
adopted  a  wholly  unscientific  attitude  towards 
workers  who  wished  to  investigate  on  any  other 
lines  save  those  which  were  formally  proposed 
by  the  scientists  themselves.  If  a  man,  for 
instance,  laid  it  down  as  a  theory  that  prayer 
had  a  real  dynamic  force,  quite  apart,  I  mean, 
from  any  theological  virtue  it  might  possess, 
the  nineteenth  century  professor  would  refuse 
even  to  argue  with  the  theorist.  Science,  he 
would  say,  denied  the  possibility  of  such  a 
thing  and  that  was  enough.  Science,  in  fact, 
postulated  a  revelation  that  demanded  as  much 
unquestioning  faith  and  obedience  as  any  religion 
has  ever  done. 

The  discoveries  of  the  last  generation  have 
produced  a  tremendous  change  in  this  attitude, 


126  What  of  To-Day? 

and  Science,  amazed  and  bewildered  by  its  own 
"many  inventions,"  is  now  in  a  state  to  refuse 
belief  to  no  marvel,  to  accept  almost  any  mira- 
cle, and  most  decidedly  to  examine  impartially 
the  claims  of  every  investigator  into  its  most 
dubious  by-paths.  Science,  in  fact,  has  travelled 
so  fast,  and  in  such  a  totally  different  direction 
from  that  anticipated  by  its  nineteenth  century 
prophets,  that  it  is  running  the  risk  of  becoming 
too  credulous  rather  than  too  agnostic. 

The  Christian  who  bases  his  beliefs  on  other 
authority  than  the  verdict  of  his  intellectual  con- 
temporaries, and  who  is  not  disturbed  by  con- 
fident pronouncements  which  are  quite  likely 
to  be  upset  in  a  few  years,  can  afford  to  smile 
at  the  somersaults  which  scientific  men  are 
continually  turning  in  these  days.  And  if  we 
smile  at  the  so-called  "  science"  of  our  ances- 
tors, may  not  our  descendants  be  equally  amused 
at  the  theories  and  guesses  of  our  own  age? 

The  truth  is  that  Science  is  constantly  inter- 
fering in  matters  which  are  not  her  province  at 
all.  It  is  the  business  of  Science  to  deal  with 
phenomena,  to  find  out  and  present  facts  ;  it  is 
the  province  of  Philosophy  to  investigate  causes  • 
and  it  is  the  duty  of  Religion  to  bring  home  to 
man  the  why  and  wherefore  of  his  life,  to  put 
before  him  the  solution  of  the  great  problem  of 
existence. 

Between  these  three  no  antagonism  ought  to 
exist.  On  the  contrary,  they  should  be  united 


A  Triple  Alliance  127 

in  a  strong  Triple  Alliance,  equally  respected 
and  revered  by  all  of  us. 

Science,  Philosophy  and  Religion  are  three 
outstanding  figures  linked  hand  in  hand.  If  I 
question  Science  and  ask  her  to  tell  me  some- 
thing belonging  to  her  own  domain,  I  shall 
accept  her  answer  so  far  as  she  can  give  me 
reason  for  doing  so.  It  is  when  the  so-called 
scientist  passes  out  of  his  own  realm  that  I  am 
a  little  in  fear  about  him.  We  are  living  in  an 
age  when  nobody  is  allowed  to  confess  his 
ignorance,  and,  when  some  great  question  of 
theology  is  mooted,  there  is  always  a  Marie 
Corelli  or  a  Hall  Caine  to  solve  it. 

Now  what  has  Science  to  tell  me  about  this 
life  ?  Science  tells  me  that  this  puny,  petty  planet, 
set  in  this  vast  archipelago  of  the  universe,  was  once 
a  ball  of  fire,  tossed  off  a  ball  of  fire  larger  still ; 
that,  as  it  gyrated  round  the  bigger  ball,  rotat- 
ing on  its  own  axis,  it  gradually  cooled  and 
settled  down  into  the  likeness  and  form  of  this 
globe  whereon  we  live. 

Now  Science,  having  said  so  much,  has 
finished  her  task.  She  can  retire,  and  the  Phil- 
osopher may  come  forward  and  I  will  ask  him : 
"Sir,  it  is  your  province  to  investigate  causes; 
I  want  to  know  who  set  this  ball  spinning, 
who  is  the  Prime  Mover  of  the  prime  thing 
moved  ?  ' ' 

He  will  tell  me  that  he  accepts  phenomena, 
and  when  the  last  link  has  dropped  from  the 


i28  What  of  To-Day  ? 

Scientist's  hand,  he  picks  it  up  and  finds  that 
the  thing  moved  must  have  been  started  by 
Someone  having  the  power  to  move  it.  And 
when  he  says  so,  Religion  will  step  forth  and, 
grasping  the  hands  of  both  her  sisters,  Science 
and  Philosophy,  will  confirm  the  truth  of  their 
utterances,  and  will  reveal  to  them  as  much  as 
may  be  known  of  the  nature  and  the  intentions 
of  the  Prime  Mover. 

Nobody  mistrusts  the  first-class  scientist  or 
philosopher.  Such  men  as  Newton,  or  Faraday, 
or  Kelvin  never  attacked  religion.  It  is  the 
second-rate  people  who  are  always  starting  up 
and  treating  the  Almighty  as  though  He  were 
some  constitutional  monarch,  dependent  on  a 
plebiscite  of  His  Empire,  and  telling  Him 
exactly  what  He  may  or  may  not  do. 

Well  now,  once  again,  wanting  to  know 
things,  I  address  myself  to  Science.  I  find  we 
are  made  up  of  mind,  of  heart,  of  will ;  mind 
the  seat  of  knowledge,  heart  the  seat  of  love, 
and  will  the  seat  of  action ;  and  these  three 
forces  result  in  one  strong  force — the  man  who 
wants  to  know,  and  to  get  to  the  bottom  of 
things. 

Accordingly,  I  ask  Science:  "What  can  you 
tell  me  about  life?"  And  if  Science  is  in  a 
normal  state,  and  has  not  temporarily  lost  her 
head,  she  will  say:  "I  know  little  about  life. 
I  can  label  it  with  many  names,  but  I  know  no 
more  about  the  beginning  of  life  than  I  do 


A  Triple  Alliance  129 

about  the  primitive  nebula,  and  that  is  just  no- 
thing at  all." 

But  Science  will  also  tell  me  that  there  was 
a  time  when  this  little  planet  tossed  round  and 
round  in  its  feverish  excitement  with  a  temper- 
ature so  high  that  it  could  tolerate  no  life  at 
all  upon  its  bosom.  Yet  life  appeared.  Whence 
and  how  did  it  appear?  Science  can  only  say 
that  nobody  knows  anything  about  life  except 
as  the  offspring  of  pre-existing  life. 

I  turn  to  the  Philosopher.  "Well,"  he  will 
say,  "the  only  explanation  I  have  to  offer  is 
this :  that  some  tremendous  force,  dowered  with 
self-existence,  must  have  stooped  over  this  mineral 
world,  and,  brooding  over  it,  breathed  into  its 
substance  the  breath  of  His  own  life,  so  that 
the  planet  began  to  pulsate  with  a  life  of  its 
own . ' ' 

If  this,  then,  is  the  teaching  of  Philosophy, 
and  if  Science  has  no  teaching  to  offer,  what 
prevents  them  once  more  joining  hands  with 
Religion,  across  the  threshold  of  revealed  Truth 
and  accepting  in  all  humbleness  that  answer 
which  was  given  of  old  to  man's  questionings, 
wherein  we  are  told  that  God  breathed  into  the 
clay  the  breath  of  life,  and  man  became  a  living 
soul?  But  there  is  still  a  third  question  I  wish 
to  ask  of  Science  and  Philosophy.  I  want  to 
know  when  is  this  planet  to  have  done  with  its 
mad  spinning  ?  What  is  going  to  be  the  upshot 
of  all  this?  What  is  the  meaning  of  all  this 

J 


130  What  of  To-Day? 

fret,  and  fume,  and  fever?  What  of  this  exis- 
tence which,  even  at  midday,  is  a  nightmare  to 
so  many  of  us?  Whither  are  we  going?  What 
is  to  happen  to  us? 

And  Science  will  answer,  honestly  enough  : 
"All  I  know  is  that  within  a  certain  limited 
time  this  little  planet,  as  you  say,  fuming  and 
fretting  its  fevered  life,  will  quiet  down,  and  its 
pulse  will  cease  to  beat,  and  no  life  shall  be 
able  any  more  to  breathe  upon  it.  Whether  it 
will  be  burnt  up  or  burnt  out  I  cannot  tell, 
but  I  know  that  its  fate  is  certain." 

"Tell,  me  then,"  I  ask,  "what  is  it  that  is 
to  be  buried?  That  long  procession  which 
started  so  many  thousands  of  years  ago,  that  long 
procession — is  it  carrying  out  the  living  soul  or 
the  dead  body?" 

"I  cannot  tell  you,"  says  Science,  "Neither 
my  scalpel,  nor  my  microscope,  nor  my  test 
tube  have  yet  discovered  a  human  soul — I  know 
nothing  about  it."  That,  I  say  again,  is  an 
honest  answer,  beyond  which  Science  cannot 
go.  Science  cannot  prove  a  negative,  and  the 
scientist,  who,  because  he  cannot  find  the  soul, 
denies  its  existence,  has  no  right  to  call  himself 
a  scientist  at  all. 

And  now,  Philosopher,  come  forward  and 
give  us  the  result  of  your  investigations  into 
these  high,  psychological  questions.  Tell  us 
what  conclusions  you  have  formed  about  the 
soul. 


A  Triple  Alliance  131 

And  he  will  reply:  "Why,  all  I  know  is 
this :  that  there  is  something  in  man's  nature 
which  appears  to  transcend  his  earthly  part,  some 
spiritual  force  which  distinguishes  him  from  the 
rest  of  creation,  some  immaterial  consciousness 
which  provides  reasons  for  his  thoughts  and 
actions  on  a  basis  which  nature  alone  is  insuf- 
ficient to  furnish.  That  this  soul  is  something 
apart  from  his  merely  animal  side  appears  to 
me  to  be  proved.  I  cannot  affirm  of  my  own 
unaided  knowledge  that  it  is  an  immortal  entity, 
but  the  evidence  would  seem  to  be  strongly  in 
favour  of  such  an  assumption." 

Then  once  more  Religion  steps  forward, 
as  the  crown  of  both  Science  and  Philosophy, 
and,  in  answer  to  the  immemorial  yearnings  of 
mankind,  teaches  that  the  world  has  not  been 
left  in  utter  darkness  in  these  matters — that  there 
is  sure  ground  for  that  Hope  and  Faith  which 
have  never  wholly  deserted  the  earth,  and  that 
the  warrant  for  these  things  comes  from  a  source 
that  cannot  be  doubted.  Thus  it  is  Religion, 
Faith,  that  gives  man  his  true  orientation  and 
makes  life  worth  while. 

u  The  highest  faith  makes  still  the  highest  man, 
For  we  grow  like  the  things  our  souls  believe, 
And  rise  or  sink  as  we  aim  high  or  low." 


XVI 
SATANIC  SPIRITISM 

IT  is  only   after    considerable   hesitation   that   I 
have   decided  to   include   the   following   articles 
in   this    book.     Many   of    my  readers,  I    know, 
will    consider  the   whole    subject   of  "  Spiritual- 
ism"  to  be  entirely  unworthy  of  serious  notice, 
and  I  should  be  the  last  to  urge  anyone  to  de- 
part  from    that    attitude.     The    less  we  have  to 
do   with   seances   and    "spirits,"  the    better   for 
our    moral   and    mental    health.     On    the    other 
hand    it   is    useless    to    shut   one's    eyes    to   the 
enormous  influence  which  the  new  "cult"  ex- 
ercises   over  very  many  thousands  of  people  to- 
day, and    those    by  no   means    confined   to   the 
ignorant  or  half-educated  classes.     A  well-known 
investigator  into  psychic  matters  has  given  it  as 
his  opinion,  founded   on  a  long  and  varied  ex- 
perience,   that    "ninety-eight    per    cent,  of    the 
phenomena   are   fraudulent."     I    think,    myself, 
the  figure  is  rather  too  high,  but  in  any  case  the 
fact  that  so  great  an  authority  admits  the  genuine- 
ness of  even  a  proportion  of  phenomena  should 
serve  as  a  warning   to  honest  Christian  believers 
to    avoid    "Spiritualism"     as    they    would    the 

132 


Satanic  Spiritism  133 

plague.  The  evil  is  a  growing  one  and  the 
dangers  to  which  it  opens  the  door  are  literally 
appalling ;  and  I  do  not  think  it  would  be  right 
for  me  to  pass  by  in  silence  practices  which 
are  all  the  more  harmful  inasmuch  as  they  seem 
specially  devised  to  attract  many  who  are  honestly, 
if  misguidedly,  seeking  the  truth. 


I. — THE  FRAUDULENT 

WHEN  we  consider  that  fraud  enters  so  largely 
into  Spiritualistic  stances,  it  might  be  thought 
sufficient  for  me  to  utter  a  word  of  warning  on 
this  aspect  of  the  subject  and  pass  on  to  more 
serious  matters  at  once.  But-- 1  am  inclined  to 
dwell  a  little  longer  on  this  side  of  Spiritualism, 
for  two  excellent  reasons.  In  the  first  place 
there  are  numbers  of  credulous  persons  who 
have  never  come  into  contact  with  any  genuine 
phenomena  at  all  and  yet  are  among  the  most 
enthusiastic  followers  of  the  cult ;  and  secondly, 
in  nearly  every  instance  where  an  inquirer, 
drawn  either  by  curiosity  or  by  some  blind 
groping  after  the  truth,  begins  to  attend  seances, 
it  will  be  found  that  his  ultimate  devotion  to 
the  whole  pernicious  system  rests  on  the  hum- 
bug and  charlatanry  of  a  fraudulent  medium. 
Certain  things  happen  which  to  him  are  inex- 
plicable, though  any  clever  conjurer  could  dupli- 
cate them,  and  he  at  once  rushes  to  the  con- 
clusion that  he  has  seen  the  ''spirits"  at  work. 


i34  What  of  To-Day  ? 

A  blind  belief  in  fraudulent  phenomena, 
therefore,  may  do  a  very  real  amount  of  harm 
to  a  trusting  soul,  even  if  the  results  cannot  in 
the  nature  of  things  be  quite  so  deadly  as 
those  produced  by  the  presence  of  genuine 
spirits.  There  are  certain  people  whose  attitude 
towards  the  whole  subject  is  exactly  the  reverse 
of  that  adopted  by  the  materialistic  school  of 
the  last  century.  Tyndall,  for  instance,  having 
gone  to  a  stance  and  having  observed  that  the 
phenomena  produced  were  clearly  fraudulent,  laid 
it  down  that  there  could  be  nothing  supernatural 
about  any  manifestation.  The  modern  inquirer, 
primed  with  thrilling  stories  of  his  friends'  ex- 
periences, attends  a  medium's  circle,  is  be- 
wildered and  impressed  by  the  phenomena 
shown,  which,  knowing  little  or  nothing  of 
mediumistic  methods,  he  cannot  account  for, 
and  incontinently  jumps  to  the  conclusion  that 
everything  is  the  work  of  the  spirits  of  whom 
he  has  been  told  such  marvels. 

Thenceforth,  he  is  an  easy  prey  to  every 
professional  fortune-teller,  every  self-styled  clair- 
voyant whom  he  may  come  across.  Nothing  is 
too  much  for  him  to  swallow.  He  fondly  im- 
agines himself  to  be  in  constant  communication 
with  the  souls  of  departed  friends-and  relatives. 
Forgetful  of  the  pure  beliefs  of  his  childhood, 
he  now  considers  himself  for  the  first  time  fully 
assured  of  a  life  after  death,  and  he  naturally 
takes  the  advice  of  his  "spirit-guides  "as  to  how 


Satanic  Spiritism  135 

he  shall  conduct  himself  with  a  view  to  his 
own  comfort,  both  here  and  hereafter.  I  confess 
I  have  small  sympathy  with  the  man  who,  after 
some  years  of  this  sort  of  thing,  finds  himself 
beggared  in  pocket  and  with  his  faith  in  human 
nature  rudely  shaken.  He  may  be  thankful  that 
matters  are  no  worse  and  that  he  has  found  out 
his  mistake  in  time.  If  when  he  realises  the 
truth,  he  hastily  decides,  like  Tyndall,  that  the 
whole  of  Spiritualism  is  a  gigantic  fraud  and  re- 
solves to  dabble  no  more  in  such  things,  then, 
I  say,  so  much  the  better  for  him.  The  material- 
istic, common-sense  position,  where  Spiritualism 
is  concerned,  is  a  far  safer  one  than  sheer  blind 
credulity. 

If  only  these  ardent  seekers  after  the  super- 
natural would  take  the  trouble  to  read  some  of 
the  books  that  have  been  published  explaining 
the  methods  of  fraudulent  mediums,  they  would 
at  least  have  the  satisfaction  of  detecting  for 
themselves  many  of  the  clever  conjuring  tricks 
on  which  so  much  of  Spiritualism  rests.  Such 
books  have  been  published  in  abundance,  but 
the  credulous  believer  refuses,  I  must  suppose, 
to  read  them. 

One  such  was  recently  expatiating  to  me  on 
the  physical  marvels  shown  at  a  seance  he  had 
recently  attended.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  was 
not,  as  stances  go,  such  a  very  wonderful  per- 
formance, and  I  had  little  difficulty  in  explain- 
ing the  modus  operandi  of  every  trick  he 


136  What  of  To-Day? 

mentioned.  But  I  failed  to  convince  him  that 
everything  he  had  witnessed  could  be  explained 
on  purely  natural  grounds.  He  admitted  that 
my  explanations  covered  the  facts,  but,  he  went 
on  to  say,  "  There  was  something  in  the  atmo- 
sphere, some  wholly  indescribable  feeling  of 
being  actually  in  touch  with  a  higher  sphere 
(why  "higher"?)  that  forced  one  to  the  con- 
clusion that  all  was  genuine." 

I  have  come  across  the  same  thing  dozens 
of  times.  The  wish  to  believe  makes  all  things 
easy — from  the  medium's  point  of  view — and  a 
lady  once  assured  me  quite  seriously  that  though 
the  "spirit-friends"  she  was  accustomed  to  re- 
new acquaintance  with  at  seances  were  never 
identically  the  same  as  she  remembered  them 
in  life,  there  was  always  an  indescribable  air 
about  them  which  entirely  satisfied  her  that  they 
were  what  they  represented  themselves  to  be ! 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  no  evidence  has  ever 
been  advanced  that  a  "materialisation"  is  ever 
produced  by  anything  but  the  grossest  fraud. 
The  late  Mr.  W.  T.  Stead,  a  confirmed  Spirit- 
ualist, admitted  as  much  upon  one  occasion. 
'The  phenomena  of  Spiritualism,"  he  wrote, 
"so  far  as  relates  to  the  materialising  of  spirits, 
seem  to  be  much  less  frequent  in  London  at 
present  than  they  were  some  years  ago.  Dur- 
ing these  investigations  I  have  made  great 
efforts  to  obtain  the  services  of  a  trustworthy 
materialising  medium,  who  had  not  at  any  time 


Satanic  Spiritism  137 

been  detected  in  fraud.  There  are  three  or 
four  materialising  mediums  who  give  seances  in 
London ;  but,  whether  from  misfortune  or  their 
own  fault,  their  names  have  all  been  associated 
at  one  time  or  another  with  the  production  of 
fraudulent  phenomena.  I  am  not  now  speak- 
ing of  what  is  said  by  such  opponents  of  spiritu- 
alistic phenomena  as  ...  Mr.  Maskelyne.  I 
am  speaking  of  what  has  been  communicated 
to  me  by  fervent  Spiritualists,  whom  I  have 
consulted  in  the  hope  that  they  might  be  able 
to  furnish  me  with  the  address  of  a  trustworthy 
materialising  medium.  The  net  result  of  my 
inquiries  came  to  this  :  that,  in  the  whole  of 
the  United  Kingdom,  so  far  as  was  known  to 
the  spiritualistic  community,  there  was  only  one 
person  of  undoubted  materialising  faculty  and 
undoubted  character  who  could  almost  always 
secure  the  presence  cf  phenomena,  and  who 
had  never  been  detected  in  a  trick  of  any 
kind." 

The  medium  referred  to  by  Mr.  Stead  in 
this  remarkable  paragraph  he  reveals  as  Mrs. 
Mellon,  a  medium  who,  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
was  actually  exposed  in  Sydney,  Australia,  two 
years  after  Mr.  Stead's  admission  quoted  above. 
Mr.  Hereward  Carrington  quotes,  in  "The 
Physical  Phenomena  of  Spiritualism,"  a  first- 
hand account  of  this  exposure  at  a  seance  where 
several  sceptics  had  agreed  to  seize  one  of  the 
"spirits"  issuing  from  the  cabinet  in  order  to 


138  What  of  To-Day? 

ascertain  whether  the   form  seen  was  genuine, 
or  was,  as  appeared  likely,  that  of  Mrs.  Mellon 
herself  in  disguise.     Here  is  the  story  as  given 
by   Mr.    Carrington :    Mr.    Henry,    one    of    the 
sceptics,   seized  the  figure  as  it  came  from  the 
cabinet,   and   then,  in  his   own   words,   "  found 
that  I  held  the  form  of  Mrs.   Mellon,  and  that 
she  was  on  her  knees,  and  had  a  white  material 
like   muslin   round  her  head    and  shoulders.     I 
can   swear    positively   that   when    I    seized   the 
form    Mrs.    Mellon   was    on    her   knees.       She 
struggled,  but  I  held  her  firmly  and   called  for 
the   light   to   be    turned    up.      Someone    struck 
matches,  and  then  I  saw  that  Mrs.  Mellon  had 
a   mask   of   black    material   over   her   face,    and 
aforesaid    white    drapery   round    her   shoulders, 
her   sleeves   drawn   up   above    the    elbows,   the 
skirt    of    her    dress    turned    up    and     her    feet 
bare.   .   .  .  The   matches  were    blown   out,  and 
I  was   assaulted    by  two  or  three    men   present, 
Mr.    Mellon    catching   me    by   the    throat    and 
tearing   off    my   necktie.      I    never   let   go    my 
hold  on    Mrs.  Mellon,   however,   until   the    gas 
in   the    back   room  was   lit  and  turned   full  on, 
and   everyone    present    had    an    opportunity   of 
seeing  Mrs.  Mellon  in  the  position  and  in  the 
condition  in  which  I  had  caught  her.     I  looked 
inside  the    cabinet,    and    saw,    lying    upon    the 
floor    (inside    the    cabinet),    a    false    beard.      I 
called  Mr.  Roydhouse  over,  and  he  picked  up 
the  beard,  but  it  was  snatched  from  his  hand. 


Satanic  Spiritism  139 

As  soon  as  I  released  my  hold,  Mrs.  Mellon 
tore  the  black  mask  from  her  face  and  the 
drapery  from  her  shoulders,  and  hid  them 
under  her  petticoat." 

This  plain  story,  taken  in  conjunction  with 
Mr.  Stead's  significant  declaration,  is  pretty  con- 
clusive proof  that  cases  of  supposed  materiali- 
sation are  nearly  always  fraudulent.  As  for  the 
so-called  "  messages  "  obtained  by  such  mecha- 
nical means  as  slate-writing,  sealed  letters  and 
so  forth,  these  methods  have  been  exposed  so 
often  that,  quite  apart  from  the  insanity  of 
the  "  messages  "  themselves,  only  the  most  obsti- 
nately credulous  can  possibly  suppose  such 
phenomena  due  to  anything  but  the  trickery 
of  the  medium. 

Yet  on  such  a  basis,  only  too  often,  has  the 
restlessness  of  our  age  erected  what  its  followers 
regard  as  a  real  "religion."  It  is,  I  suppose, 
hopeless  for  an  ordinary  sane  person  to  endea- 
vour to  understand  the  mental  state  of  the  in- 
dividual who,  at  one  moment  appeals  to  the 
Bible  as  proving  the  reality  of  the  phenomena 
of  the  seance-room  and,  at  another,  claims  that 
such  phenomena  "confirm"  the  truths  taught 
in  the  Bible.  I  shall  have  occasion  later  to  re- 
fer to  the  nature  of  the  "  messages  "  that 
purport  to  come  from  another  sphere  of  exist- 
ence. Suffice  it  here  to  say  that  they  are  all 
either  meaningless  or  actually  harmful,  and  that 
the  ones  which  are  given  as  a  "test"  of  the 


140  What  of  To-Day? 

supposed    spirits'  identity    are,    as    a    rule,  the 
most  untrustworthy  of  all. 


II. — THE  FRIVOLOUS 

IF    modern    science    still    refuses   to     take    the 
claims   of  Spiritualism  seriously,  there  are  many 
scientific  men  who  admit  that  a  certain  propor- 
tion of  the  phenomena  are  genuine,  i.e.  are  not 
the  product  of  conscious  fraud.     And  there  can 
be  little  doubt  that  a  great  many  communications 
which  are  supposed   to    emanate   from   those  in 
"  spirit-land  "  are  evolved  from  the  sub-conscious- 
ness either  of  the  medium  or  of  the  sitters.     It  is 
not  always  easy  to  distinguish   these  from  those 
which  are  actually  fraudulent,  but,  so  far  as  the 
Spiritualist    is    concerned,    the    distinction   is   of 
very  little  importance.     If  the  sometimes   high- 
flown    and    sometimes    inane     messages    which 
purport  to  come  from  "  Aunt  Mary"  or  "Uncle 
John  "  can  be  shown  to  have  an  entirely  natural 
origin,  surely  it   is   only   reasonable   to   ask   the 
Spiritualist  for  what  cause    he    prefers   to   place 
his  confidence    in   these    dubious   guides   rather 
than  in  those  who  can  show  him  firmer  ground 
for  belief. 

I  propose  in  this  chapter  to  quote  a  few  ex- 
tracts which  have  been  in  all  seriousness  put 
forward  as  actual  communications  from  the  spirit- 
world  by  prominent  men  since  their  death. 
They  may  be  altogether  fraudulent  productions 


Satanic  Spiritism  141 

or  they  may  have  been  evolved  from  the  sub- 
consciousness  of  some  enterprising  inquirer  in 
these  fields.  I  know  nothing  of  the  circum- 
stances under  which  they  were  obtained,  but  I 
do  know  that  anyone  reading  them  in  cold  blood 
and  with  an  impartial  mind  will  acknowledge 
that  they  are  certainly  not  what  they  purport  to 
be,  and  if  the  perusal  of  them  tends  to  make  any- 
one inclined  towards  Spiritualism  throw  up  the 
whole  subject  in  disgust,  they  will  have  served 
my  purpose.  I  class  them,  I  may  add,  as 
"  frivolous,"  because,  though  occasionally  pre- 
tentious in  tone-,  they  are  hopelessly  childish 
and  emphatically  not  in  the  least  worthy  of  the 
distinguished  names  attached  to  them. 

I  will  give  pride  of  place  to  William  Shake- 
speare, both  by  reason  of  his  literary  achieve- 
ments and  because  he  has  been  dead  so  long 
that  it  is  a  little  remarkable  that  he  should  still 
take  an  interest  in  mundane  matters.  Shake- 
speare has,  moreover,  got  something  really 
curious  to  tell  us.  He  did  not,  it  appears — and 
as  many  worthy  moderns  have  long  suspected — 
write  his  plays  himself.  But  Bacon  was  not  the 
author,  either.  Let  me  give  you  the  facts  of 
the  case  in  Shakespeare's  own  words. 

"I  was  spiritually  controlled.  I  was  never 
myself  either  in  acting  or  writing.  Every  word 
of  '  King  Lear '  I  wrote,  hearing  the  words 
audiently.  '  Coriolanus  '  was  another  play  I 
wrote  after  my  retirement  from  London  ;  I 


i42  What  of  To-Day  ? 

wrote  this  hearing  it  clair-audiently.  *  The 
Merry  Wives  of  Windsor  '  was  written  through 
my  hand  in  nearly  illegible  characters.  I  had 
been  with  Drayton  and  Ben  Jonson,  having  a 
social  glass  together,  and  after  our  carousal,  for 
it  finished  with  one,  I  stopped  at  the  inn  where 
it  took  place,  and  rilled  seventy-four  sheets  of 
manuscript  from  2  a.m.  to  4.35.  This  was  the 
*  Merry  Wives  of  Windsor.'  .  .  . 

"  I  wrote,  'Venus  and  Adonis'  under  con- 
trol, also  '  Coriolanus  '  and  *  Antony  and  Cleo- 
patra.' Five  plays  I  think  I  wrote  in  all  ;  I  was 
thoroughly  controlled  when  I  wrote,  and  when 
anyone  came  in  at  any  time  before  I  was  restored 
to  consciousness,  they  would  be  struck  and  pass 
remarks  upon  my  want  of  attentiveness,  they 
would  charge  me  with  an  absence  of  conscious- 
ness. I  put  it  all  down  to  meditativeness ;  I 
knew  it  was  something  beyond  myself,  but  I 
dared  not  mention  it.  I  was  always  deemed 
eccentric.  I  was  right  royal  in  my  friendships, 
and  indifferent  to  those  for  whom  I  felt  no 
partiality ;  in  fact,  I  was  a  man  of  extremes,  a 
Sensitive,  a  term  which  embraces  all  the  eccen- 
tricities of  a  soul  tabernacled  in  clay." 

I  am  afraid  Shakespeare's  literary  style  has 
deteriorated  a  little  during  the  three  hundred 
years  he  has  spent  in  the  "  Spiritland,"  and  this  is 
the  more  remarkable  since  he  has  not  lacked,  it 
appears,  for  congenial  company  in  his  "sphere." 
For  he  continues  :  "I  have  seen  Spenser  spiritu- 


Satanic  Spiritism  143 

ally ;  I  am  in  the  same  sphere  with  Ben  Jonson 
and  Drayton,  and  Pope,  the  eccentric,  gloomy 
soul,  is  with  us.  Cardinal  Wolsey  is  also  one 
of  our  sphere — we  have  also  got  artists,  sculp- 
tors, and  the  great  architect,  Sir  Christopher 
Wren,  is  also  with  us." 

Asked,  apparently  on  another  occasion,  what 
other  great  men  were  with  him,  he  became  a 
trifle  impatient. 

"Great  men?"  he  exclaimed.  "What  you 
call  greatness  pertains  only  to  the  earth.  That 
which  the  world  calls  greatness  is  too  often  a 
sepulchre  without  a  tenant,  a  shell  without  a 
kernel,  or  only  a  dried  and  withered  one  within. 
We  see  that  he  alone  is  great  who  is  great 
interiorly.  A  name  is  often  a  millstone  hung 
round  one's  neck.  Ah  !  what  a  sham  the  world 
is!' 

To  which  unexceptionable  sentiment  we  can 
only  cry  "hear,  hear,"  and  pass  on  to  the  next 
name  on  our  list,  that  of  Thomas  Carlyle.  He 
also  has  a  list  of  his  associates  to  give  us. 

"I  have  seen  and  conversed,"  he  says,  "with 
Frederick  the  Great,  with  Voltaire  and  Rous- 
seau ;  with  Napoleon  the  First ;  with  the  blood- 
thirsty Robespierre ;  with  Marat  and  the  leaders 
of  the  first  French  Revolution  ;  with  Richter, 
Goethe,  and  Schiller,  with  Byron,  Coleridge, 
and  Shelley.  I  was  not  in  harmony  with  the 
age  in  which  I  lived,  its  trivialities  vexed  my 
soul.  I  belonged  to  the  past.  Schiller  and 


i44  What  of  To-Day? 

Goethe  were  my  bosom  friends.  I  was  like  a 
meteoric  stone,  flung  on  earth  by  an  electrical 
tempest,  out  of  place,  and  having  no  grounding 
soil  where  I  was,  gazed  upon  with  wonder  and 
not  comprehended  by  the  people  around  me." 

Carlyle  is  still  a  little  egotistical,  it  will  be 
noticed.  Perhaps  we  are  to  take  this  as  evidence 
of  his  identity,  and  if  further  proof  be  wanted, 
the  final  outburst,  a  propos  of  nothing  in  par- 
ticular, will  surely  be  convincing. 

"O  rugged  Scotland!  home  of  my  boyhood; 
the  spirit  of  thy  Highlanders  and  Lowlanders  ; 
thy  love  of  freedom ;  the  poverty  of  thy  soil ;  thy 
mountains,  sparsely  clothed  with  elements  to 
grow  food,  have  saved  thee  from  the  rapacity 
of  the  rich  and  noble.  Thy  Kirk-bells  have 
rung  out  their  harsh  theology  without  breaking 
the  spirit  of  Hope  dominant  in  thy  people." 

I  append  a  communication  supposed  to  come 
from  John  Dryden — in  itself  about  the  most 
fatuous  string  of  platitudes  that  anyone  could 
put  together.  It  is  only  of  interest  as  showing 
the  credulity  of  the  misguided  enthusiasts  who 
can  persuade  themselves  into  the  belief  that 
such  stuff  has  really  been  communicated  by 
Dryden's  spirit. 

"Ah!  time  passes  along,  and  immortal  souls 
are,  by  its  mandate,  transferred  from  earth  to 
another  and  higher  state  of  existence.  Time 
brings  many  changes  on  the  face  of  the  earth — 
the  stately  city  of  the  past  is  the  ruin  of  the 


Satanic  Spiritism  145 

present ;  the  child  of  yesterday  is  the  grey-haired 
and  decrepit  old  man  of  to-day ;  the  earth 
knows  that  soul  in  the  form  no  more ;  but, 
however  surprising  these  changes  may  seem,  no 
change  wrought  by  time  is  so  great  as  when 
time  once  more  embraces  the  atoms  which  form 
the  body,  the  soul's  abiding-place  on  earth ;  thus 
giving  that  soul  its  liberty — I  say  its  liberty 
either  to  see  and  lament,  or  to  rejoice  and  be 
glad.  .  .  .  Yes,  it  is  a  great  and  nearly  in- 
describable change." 

I  cannot  refrain,  at  the  risk  of  wearying  [the 
reader,  from  adding  one  more  message.  It 
purports  to  be  from  Lord  Beaconsfield,  but  I 
think  a  fourth-form  schoolboy  could  have  done 
better  if  he  had  been  set  the  task  of  giving  us  an 
imaginary  message  from  the  deceased  statesman. 

"  Since  I  left  the  earth  I  have  been  in  a  posi- 
tion analogous  to  a  person  looking  through  a 
diminishing  glass.  I  rode  on  the  wave  of  popu- 
larity, the  Prime  Minister  of  England  and  Privy 
Councillor  of  the  Queen,  honoured  for  the 
moment,  the  literary  curiosity,  applauded  as  a 
giant  in  intellect,  as  a  courtier,  as  a  favourite 
of  fortune,  and  one  whom  the  gods  delighted 
to  honour.  From  this  exalted  position  I  was 
suddenly  thrust  down.  The  smiles  of  kings  and 
princes,  the  applause  of  the  multitude  were 
withdrawn,  and  thus  my  life  was  an  epitome 
of  all  life.  I  took  the  lesson  that  was  taught 
me  silently,  and  again  turned  my  attention  to 

K 


346  What  of  To-Day? 

literature.  Here,  said  I,  man  may  become  im- 
mortal ;  here  public  favour  is  enduring,  and 
does  not  applaud  one  day  and  stab  its  victim 
the  next. 

"But  I  had  one  more  lesson  to  learn. 
Another  change  occurred  in  my  horoscope. 
The  star  of  my  life  set  on  earth  to  rise  dimly  in 
another  sphere  of  existence.  And  now,  from 
this  Cloud-land,  I  look  through  the  diminishing 
atmosphere  between  the  two  worlds,  to  find  my 
mirage  on  earth  is  reduced  to  a  mere  speck. 
The  pale  primroses  of  spring  are  the  only 
mementoes  that  are  left  of  Beaconsfield.  What 
a  lesson  of  the  mutations  of  life — a  lesson  that 
should  be  studied  by  all  popular  favourites  who 
live  on  the  breath  of  the  multitude.  The  policy 
of  the  present  English  Government  towards 
Ireland  is  a  question  that  now  deeply  interests 
the  inhabitants  of  the  Spiritual  Spheres." 

I  am  afraid  that  last  sentence  may  sound  a 
trifle  abrupt,  but  perhaps  it  was  thrown  in  as 
evidence  of  identity. 

Some  Spiritualists  will  protest  that  I  am  doing 
them  an  injustice  when  I  quote  such  messages 
as  these  as  typical  of  the  ones  on  which  they 
have  founded  their  faith.  They  may  even  go 
so  far  as  to  admit  that  they  are  not  wholly 
satisfied  as  to  the  spirit-identity  of  Shakespeare 
or  Beaconsfield.  But  that  is  of  no  importance. 
What,  they  will  tell  you,  admits  of  no  discussion 
is  the  fact  that  they  have  seen,  or  at  all  events 


Satanic  Spiritism  147 

talked  with,  the  spirits  of  various  friends  and 
relatives  who  have  "passed  over." 

When  analysed,  such  conversations  are  found 
to  be  not  only  entirely  "non-evidential,"  as  the 
psychic  researchers  put  it,  but  are  chiefly  con- 
fined to  recalling  trivial  matters  known  to  both 
parties  which,  as  Spiritualists  assert,  are  the 
best  possible  proof  of  identity.  But  is  there, 
amid  all  the  mass  of  published  records  of  stances, 
one  single  case  (of  this  sort)  which  could  not 
be  readily  explained  on  other  grounds?  Mr. 
Here  ward  Carrington,  to  whom  I  have  already 
referred,  has  some  interesting  remarks  in  one 
of  his  books  on  this  point.  He  is  speaking 
more  particularly  of  "trance-mediums." 

"Once  the  genuine  nature  of  the  trance 
state  be  granted,  and  the  fact  that  the  messages 
that  come  through  the  medium's  mouth  (auto- 
matic utterance),  or  hand  (automatic  writing), 
are  not  the  products  of  conscious  fraud,  there 
is  opened  before  us  a  problem  the  extent  of 
which  no  man  can  fathom.  That  does  not 
necessarily  mean  that  the  messages  which  are 
delivered  in  the  trance  state  are  spirit  messages 
— not  by  any  means ;  they  may  be  the  result  of 
the  activity  of  the  secondary  consciousness  of 
the  medium,  active  at  the  time,  and  passing  it- 
self off  as  a  spirit — the  super-normal  knowledge 
displayed  being  gained  by  means  of  telepathy, 
clairvoyance,  and  such  super-normal  processes, 
and  woven  together  by  the  medium's  secondary 


148  What  of  To-Day  ? 

consciousness  to  personate  a  spirit.  We  know 
that  this  is  frequently  done,  the  analogy  of 
hypnotically  induced  personalities  guiding  us  in 
the  investigation  of  these  trance  personalities." 

The  majority  of  convinced  Spiritualists,  it 
must  be  confessed,  trouble  themselves  little 
about  theories  of  this  sort,  but  accept  everything, 
except  the  palpably  fraudulent,  and  even  that 
very  often,  as  the  work  of  the  "spirits."  Nothing 
incenses  a  Spiritualist  of  this  sort  so  deeply  as 
a  hint  that  he  is  taking  too  much  on  trust,  and 
he  can  seldom  find  words  bitter  enough  to  hurl 
at  those  who,  for  whatever  reason,  deprecate 
psychical  research  altogether. 

It  might  be  urged  that  it  is  better  that  a  man 
should  be  led  towards  a  belief  in  a  future  life 
even  by  such  dubious  ways  rather  than  remain 
a  rank  materialist  with  no  thought  outside  the 
concerns  of  this  world.  As  a  fact,  that  is  a 
matter  that  does  not  require  to  be  discussed,  for 
your  out-and-out  materialist  is  not  of  the  type 
to  frequent  seances.  He  sets  down  the  whole 
phenomena  of  Spiritualism  as  mere  humbug 
and  trickery,  and  no  conjuring  performances 
will  shake  his  disbelief. 

No.  Oddly,  and  sadly,  enough  it  is  the 
professing  Christian  who  runs  after  these  extran- 
eous aids  to  prop  his  feeble  faith,  who  finds  in 
the  paraphernalia  of  the  seance-room  an  accept- 
able substitute  for  attendance  at  church,  and 
who  prefers  to  be  instructed  in  his  religious 


Satanic  Spiritism  149 

duties  and  his  moral  conduct  by  mysterious 
communications  from  an  unknown  source  rather 
than  seek  spiritual  aid  and  sustenance  from  the 
words  of  Christ  and  those  appointed  to  continue 
His  teaching. 

III. — THE  FIENDISH 

I  COME  to  the  gravest  part  of  my  present 
subject.  If  Spiritualism  could  be  definitely 
proved  to  be  nothing  but  an  agglomeration  of 
clever  conjuring  tricks,  or  if  Science  could  show, 
beyond  cavil,  that  the  stirring  of  our  sub-con- 
scious selves  was  responsible  for  every  manifesta- 
tion of  the  seance-room,  the  whole  matter  might 
be  left  to  a  natural  death,  and  we  could  trust  the 
sound  common-sense  of  humanity  to  recover  its 
equilibrium  in  no  very  long  time. 

Unhappily,  that  is  not  the  case.  There  is  a 
considerable  and,  I  fear,  an  increasing  proportion 
of  phenomena  which  owe  their  direct  origin  to 
the  action  of  visitors  from  another  sphere  than 
ours. 

No  reasonable  man,  who  undertakes  an  im- 
partial investigation  into  the  mass  of  evidence 
collected  on  the  subject,  can  doubt  the  fact. 
I  have  neither  the  time  nor  the  space  to  examine 
this  evidence  here,  nor  is  it  indeed  necessary, 
for  this  chapter  has  not  been  written  to  convince 
the  mocking  materialist,  but  rather  to  warn  the 
devotees  of  Spiritualism  against  the  dangers, 
physical,  mental,  and  moral,  which  they  are 


150  What  of  To-Day? 

incurring  through  their  ignorant  playing  with 
fire. 

Spiritualists,  I  know,  do  not  receive  these 
warnings  kindly.  They  are  furious  at  the  bare 
suggestion  that  the  spirits  with  whom  they  are 
in  touch  are  not  what  they  assert  themselves  to 
be.  And  if  they  be  further  told  that  such  spirits 
are  lying  spirits,  are  devilish  and  Satanic  in  their 
origin,  they  indignantly  demand  proof  of  the 
charge.  Would  it  not  be  more  to  the  point  if 
the  Spiritualists  could  bring  proof  that  they  were 
not?  It  is  a  favourite  assertion  of  these  people 
that  only  debased  minds  get  en  rapport  with 
debased  spirits,  and  that  the  more  spiritually 
minded  an  inquirer  is,  the  purer  and  more 
elevated  are  the  spirits  who  come  in  answer  to 
his  call.  But  how  is  it  proposed  to  differentiate 
between  the  Satanic  and  the  Saintly  Spirit  ?  Easily 
enough,  declares  the  Spiritualist,  for  the  evil 
spirits  are  readily  distinguished  by  their  irrever- 
ent, even  blasphemous  remarks  and  their  malic- 
ious doings,  whereas  those  from  higher  spheres 
are  full  of  lofty  sentiments  and  their  communica- 
tions are  always  couched  in  solemn  and  holy 
language. 

Cannot  a  spirit  then,  as  well  as  a  man,  be  a 
hypocrite?  Would  a  lying  spirit,  seeking  to 
pervert  mankind,  hesitate  to  give  voice  to  such 
sentiments  as  might  be  best  calculated  to  deceive 
its  hearers  into  accepting  it  as  a  trustworthy  and 
truthful  authority  on  the  unseen  world?  The 


Satanic  Spiritism  151 

plain  fact  of  the  matter  is  that  the  man  who 
accepts  the  teaching  of  the  spirits  and  regulates 
his  religious  belief  and  his  conduct  thereby, 
ceases  to  be  a  Christian  in  any  real  sense  of  the 
term.  He  may  still  call  himself  a  follower  of 
Christ,  but  the  Christ  he  elects  to  follow  is  not 
the  Divine  Man  of  the  Gospel,  but  a  monstrous 
caricature — an  antichrist  in  fact — who  is  held  up 
for  his  veneration  as  merely  a  man  somewhat  in 
advance  of  his  time  by  virtue  of  his  superior 
mediumistic  powers. 

A  well-known  investigator  into  this  subject, 
Mr.  J.  Godfrey  Raupert,  whose  book  on  the 
"Dangers  of  Spiritualism"  should  be  carefully 
studied  by  every  professing  Spiritualist,  has 
given  us  a  general  resume  of  the  usual  tenor 
of  spirit  messages.  I  quote  the  following  pas- 
sage : 

"Many  of  them  (the  spirits)  know  nothing 
of  God :  others  employ  a  phraseology  which 
would  tend  to  destroy  all  faith  in  God,  and 
duty,  and  responsibility,  and  which  would  seem 
to  indicate  that  they  have,  since  their  translation 
into  the  next  sphere  of  being,  sunk  to  a  de- 
cidedly lower  level  of  moral  and  religious 
thought.  The  tendency  of  their  utterances  is, 
most  certainly,  in  many  directions,  towards  the 
removal  of  the  sanction  of  religion,  and  to  the 
creation  in  other  minds  of  doubt  in  the  exist- 
ence of  God." 

I  will  supplement  this  statement  with  one  or 


152  What  of  To-Day  ? 

two  instances  of  communications  from  spirits 
on  the  subject  of  God  and  religion.  Answer- 
ing a  singularly  foolish  question  as  to  why  the 
Creator  of  the  human  infant  could  create  a  leo- 
pard to  mangle  and  destroy  that  infant,  one 
spirit  is  reported  to  have  said  :  "  You  will  yet 
learn  that  there  were  many  Creators.  This  fact 
is  referred  to  in  your  sacred  writings,  where 
the  Gods  say,  *  Let  us  make  man  in  our  image 
and  after  our  likeness " ! 

That  answer  is  characteristic  of  these  so- 
called  "spirit-guides"  and  "teachers."  The 
words  ot  Scripture  are  ever  in  their  mouths, 
and  in  every  case,  with  truly  diabolical  ingenu- 
ity, they  twist  and  torture  the  meaning  of  the 
sacred  texts  to  suit  their  own  purposes. 

The  subjoined  extract  from  another  spirit- 
message  will  illustrate  the  subtle  and  insidious 
fashion  in  which  the  spirits  work  to  cast  doubt 
on  the  truths  of  revealed  religion : 

"All  progress  has  its  culminating  point. 

"  ./Eons  have  passed  to  produce  the  most 
exquisite  crystals,  the  highest  forms  of  vegeta- 
tion, of  animals,  of  men.  Then  came  the  slow 
processes  of  civilising  and  educating  men  ;  the 
dim  instincts  of  fear  and  propitiation,  merging, 
by  slow  degrees,  in  the  first  conceptions  of 
love,  as  something  apart  from  desire,  and  so 
forth. 

"Was  I  to  be  expected  to  shut  my  eyes  to 
all  these  known  facts,  and  bolt  down  the 


Satanic  Spiritism  153 

theories    contained    in    one    Book,    written    by 
human  authors,  no  matter  how  admirable  ? 

"I  felt  it  was  impossible. 
'Then  I  remembered  with  relief  that  these 
very  dogmas,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  were  in  so 
fluent  a  state,  that  my  own  bare  fifty  years  of 
living  had  seen  at  least  four  different  high-water 
marks ! 

"Here  again,  therefore,  under  my  very  eyes, 
was  the  universal  law  of  progress  working,  the 
moment  it  could  work,  by  being  released  from 
the  swaddling-clothes  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church,  which,  so  far  as  it  is  orthodox,  is  fos- 
silised." 

And  again  (from  the  same  message):  "And 
so  you  have  gone  on  see-sawing  to  and  fro,  not 
really  believing  the  old  orthodox  ideas,  but  not 
courageously  sweeping  them  away  for  yourself." 

Over  and  over  again  in  such  messages  we 
find  the  same  idea  repeated,  the  same  crafty 
appeal  made  to  those  listening  to  free  their 
minds  from  the  "bonds  of  creeds,"  to  take 
"broader  views  of  theology,"  and  so  forth. 
Seldom  has  the  person  thus  appealed  to  the 
strength  to  resist  the  implied  flattery  that  he  is 
at  too  high  an  intellectual  or  spiritual  level  to 
be  satisfied  with  the  common  notions  of  reli- 
gion which  are  good  enough  for  the  rest  of 
mankind. 

Here  is  another  sample  of  the  kind  of  dia- 
bolical perversion  to  which  I  am  referring : 


154  What  of  To-Day? 

"As  we  grow  older  and  become  more  de- 
veloped in  spiritual  consciousness,  so  do  we 
tend  more  and  more  to  worship  the  inner  and 
intangible,  rather  than  the  outward  and  mani- 
fest .  .  .  Those  limitations  which  once  made 
for  reverence  are  in  time  found  to  be  cramp- 
ing and  to  lead  to  superstition  .  .  .  The  old 
ideas  of  Heaven  and  Hell  are  already  doomed, 
but  other  ideas,  equally  untrue  from  the  literal 
point  of  view,  still  hold  their  own,  and  will  be 
more  slowly  eradicated  It  is  well  this  should 
be  so.  The  world  at  large  is  not  prepared  yet 
to  take  this  further  step." 

'Tell  your  friend,"  teaches  another  spirit, 
"not  to  be  afraid  of  a  broader  outlook  in  all 
religious  matters,  nor  fear  the  psychic  questions 
which  interest  her.  Truth  must  come  out  of 
all  earnest  search  for  it,  and  if  you  widen  your 
outlook  while  on  earth,  you  will  have  less  to 
unlearn  when  you  pass  to  this  side." 

In  other  words,  we  are  exhorted  to  give  up 
that  belief  in  Christianity  which  has  sustained 
and  strengthened  the  lives  of  men  for  the  last 
two  thousand  years  ;  we  are  taught,  agreeably 
with  the  spirit  of  the  age,  that  the  more  we 
"broaden  our  views,"  and  the  sooner  we  es- 
cape from  the  "trammels  of  orthodoxy,"  the 
greater  progress  we  shall  make  in  the  spiritual 
life  ;  and,  finally,  we  are  told  that  while  the 
old  Christian  dogmas  were  well  enough  in  their 
way  for  a  childish  and  ignorant  age,  it  behoves 


Satanic  Spiritism  155 

us,  now  that  we  have  reached  intellectual  man- 
hood, to  take  a  more  "liberal"  view  of  Divi- 
nity. 

Can  any  practising  Christian  soberly  accept 
such  teaching  as  a  new  revelation?  What 
grounds  has  he  for  setting  aside  the  express 
and  explicit  commands  of  Christ  in  favour  of 
the  vague  and  nebulous  exhortations  of  lying 
spirits,  whose  sole  claim  to  speak  with  authority 
rests  on  their  ability  to  move  a  table  or  take 
possession  of  a  medium?  That  the  spirits  con- 
tinually contradict  themselves  and  each  other, 
that  at  one  moment  they  will  affect  to  speak 
with  reverence  of  the  Saviour  and  at  the  next 
give  the  lie  to  His  every  word,  apparently  matters 
not  at  all  to  their  deluded  victims. 

Is  there  any  possible  escape  from  the  dilemma 
that  these  spirits  are  either  messengers  from 
God  or  the  direct  emissaries  of  Satan  ?  And  if 
the  internal  evidence  of  their  communications 
is  not  sufficient,  as  alas,  we  know  it  is  not,  to 
convince  inquirers  of  their  evil  nature,  how 
comes  it  that  God,  having  once  and  for  all  sent 
His  Son  upon  earth  to  establish  a  Church  which 
shall,  under  the  guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
be  a  living  witness  to  the  truth — how  comes  it, 
I  say,  that  God  now  finds  it  necessary  to  correct 
and  modify  His  Son's  Gospel  by  the  mouths  of 
a  host  of  messengers  who  are  unable  to  establish 
their  own  identity  ? 

Let  me   quote   one   more   extract   from  one 


i56  What  of  To-Day? 

of  these  spirit-messages,  purporting,  in  high- 
sounding  phraseology,  to  give  the  spirits'  own 
reason  for  their  activity. 

"  We  come  to  you  beings  of  earth  to  do  some- 
thing more  than  merely  to  prove  our  existence 
in  another  sphere,  and  to  present  wonders  to 
marvel-seekers.  We  mean  serious  and  practical 
work  for  human  enlightenment  and  progress. 
We  come  to  teach  a  truer,  brighter,  and  better 
philosophy  of  life  than  the  world  has  yet  had 
to  aid  you  in  the  solution  of  the  great  problems 
of  your  being  ;  to  inspire  you  with  higher  aims 
and  nobler  efforts  for  your  own  and  for  others' 
good ;  to  give  you  ,the  benefit  of  our  larger 
experience  that  you  may  be  incited  to  make 
the  most  and  best  of  your  earthly  opportunities ; 
and  to  do  what  we  can  to  correct  your  errors 
and  to  educate  you  for  the  practical  duties  of 
both  the  present  and  the  future  life." 

Had  Our  Lord,  then,  nothing  to  teach  men 
on  the  correction  of  their  errors — the  word 
"sin,"  you  may  note,  is  carefully  avoided — had 
He  nothing  to  propose  on  their  education  for 
the  practical  duties  of  both  the  present  and  the 
future  life  ?  It  would  seem  not,  if  we  are  to 
put  our  trust  in  the  spirits  who  promise  us 
"enlightenment  and  progress,"  and  who  "come 
to  teach  a  truer,  brighter,  and  better  philosophy 
of  life  than  the  world  has  yet  had."  If  that 
phrase  does  not  contain  the  most  explicit  denial 
of  the  Christian  revelation  that  it  is  possible  to 


Satanic  Spiritism  157 

have,  I  should  like  to  hear  one  put  more 
plainly. 

Such  a  communication  as  this,  and  it  is 
typical  of  many  others,  is,  I  say  it  emphatically, 
nothing  more  or  less  than  the  work  of  the 
Devil.  It  bears  upon  the  face  of  it  every  mark 
of  its  diabolical  origin  and  a  man  must  have 
strayed  far  indeed  from  the  teachings  of  Christ 
to  be  deceived  by  such  miserable  and  lying 
bombast. 

IV— GUI  BONO? 

FROM  the  higher  religious  standpoint  it  is  clear 
that  Spiritualism  has  nothing  to  recommend  it, 
but  that,  on  the  contrary,  much  harm  may,  and 
does,  result  to  its  followers.  There  are,  too,  the 
physical  efforts  to  be  considered,  of  which,  alas, 
those  who  dabble  in  Spiritualism  hear  little  or 
nothing  until  some  devastating  tragedy  at  their 
own  doors,  so  to  speak,  tears  the  veil  from  their 
eyes.  Once  a  man  ventures  the  frail  bark  of 
his  soul  near  the  quicksands  of  occultism,  his 
doom  is  sealed  almost  as  surely  as  that  of  the 
vessel  driven  on  the  Goodwins.  It  matters  little 
whether  it  be  curiosity  or  superstition  or  bereave- 
ment that  first  brings  a  man  or  woman  into 
"spirit-circles."  The  result  is  in  nearly  all  cases 
the  same,  loss  of  physical  control,  loss  of  mental 
balance,  loss  of  moral  sense. 

There  is  no  room  in  this  work-a-day  world 
for  the  Spiritualist.  At  the  best  he  becomes 


158  What  of  To-Day? 

engrossed  and  absorbed  by  the  fascination  exer- 
cised by  his  occult  pursuits,  to  the  extinction 
of  all  other  interests  in  life.  At  the  worst  he 
ends  his  days  in  a  mad-house.  If  only  the 
physical  havoc  and  ruin  which  the  craze  after 
spiritualistic  seances  is  creating  among  all  classes 
of  the  community  were  generally  known  and 
realised,  perhaps  it  is  not  too  much  to  hope 
that  even  the  Spiritualists  themselves  would  not 
resent  so  bitterly  the  warnings  addressed  to  them 
by  responsible  and  level-headed  advisers. 

Remembering  the  many  cases  of  moral  ruin 
and  physical  wreckage  which  have  come  before 
me  as  a  result  of  these  practices,  I  would  not, 
if  I  could,  remain  tongue-tied.  I  cannot  forget 
how  a  young  mother,  being  told  that  her  dead 
child  wanted  to  speak  to  her,  was  drawn  to  a 
stance  and  became  almost  enchanted  because 
she  thought  she  recognised  its  innocent  prattle. 
Strange  child,  which  led  her  first  by  the  ways 
of  piety  and  prayer,  and  finally  to  give  up  all 
religion  and  believe  in  nothing  but  the  grossest 
superstition  and  folly. 

Nor  can  I  forget  the  working  man  who  went 
to  a  seance  in  the  hope  of  communicating  with 
his  dead  wife,  and  of  obtaining  consolation  and 
advice  from  her,  and  who  had  become  so  pestered 
and  tempted  by  lying  and  obscene  spirits  that 
he  was  driven  into  an  asylum,  whence  he  emerged 
only  again  to  re-enter  it. 

I   recall   another   case,  that   of  a  young  wife 


Satanic  Spiritism  159 

and  her  brother,  who  out  of  curiosity  began 
by  indulging  in  crystal-gazing,  palmistry,  divin- 
ation by  means  of  Tarot  cards  and  other  so- 
called  operations,  and  then  got  into  the  habit 
of  attending  seances.  There  as  they  were  per- 
suaded, they  were  raised  to  the  astral  plane, 
had  intercourse  with  angels,  and  finally  with 
Our  Divine  Lord,  Jesus  Christ,  who  confessed 
to  them  that  He  was  only  a  man  in  advance  of 
His  time.  Both  brother  and  sister  have  not 
only  given  up  their  religion  but  are  now  rabid 
anti-Christians. 

A  man  came  to  me  the  other  day  and,  tell- 
ing me  of  his  terrible  trouble,  of  how  his  wife 
had  gone  to  a  lunatic  asylum  through  dabbling 
in  Spiritualism,  begged  me  with  tears  in  his 
eyes  to  do  all  I  could  to  stop  this  devilry,  which 
seems  to  gather  new  strength  every  day,  and 
whose  insidious  methods  are  all  directed  to  be- 
little and  undermine  the  Church  of  Christ. 

I  could  multiply  instances  of  the  devastating 
effects  of  this  blasphemous  cult,  and  those  who 
are  inclined  to  think  the  results  exaggerated 
will  do  well  to  read  the  cases  recorded  by  Mr. 
J.  Godfrey  Raupert  in  his  book  on  the  "Dangers 
of  Spiritualism,"  from  which  I  have  already 
quoted.  The  saner  investigators  who  look  upon 
psychical  research  from  the  strictly  scientific 
point  of  view,  the  examination  of  which  may 
help  to  solve  the  problems  presented  by  such 
recently  discovered  facts  as  telepathy,  hypnotism, 


160  What  of  To-Day? 

the  sub-conscious  mind  and  so  forth,  are  thoroughly 
agreed  as  to  the  dangers,  mental,  moral  and 
physical,  which  are  incurred  by  those  who  are 
attracted  to  it  from  other  causes. 

Once  a  man  opens  the  door  of  his  soul  to 
such  influences,  who  can  say  what  visitors  may 
not  enter?  Cases  of  actual  obsession  are  far 
more  frequent  than  Spiritualists  imagine  or  will 
admit,  and  no  one  who  has  ever  come  across  a 
single  instance  of  the  kind  can  ever  again  have 
any  feeling  towards  Spiritualism  but  one  of 
shuddering  aversion. 

To  put  the  case  on  the  very  lowest  grounds, 
of  what  possible  benefit  can  this  spirit  com- 
munication be  to  the  world  at  large?  The 
return — or  the  supposed  return — of  friends  and 
relatives  we  have  lost  in  years  gone  by,  is  cited 
as  a  proof  that  there  is  another  world  than  this, 
that  we  do  not  wholly  die  when  we  depart  this 
life,  and  that  there  is  a  nobler  side  of  us  which 
still  lives  a  conscious  existence  when  our  bodies 
are  shut  up  in  the  coffin  and  left  to  moulder  in 
the  grave.  But  since  when  has  a  Christian  re- 
quired such  proof?  At  what  period  of  history 
has  the  Church  ever  taught  that  men  perish  as 
the  beasts  in  the  field?  And  what  kind  of 
religious  faith  is  that  which  needs  to  be  forti- 
fied by  the  utterances  of  spirits  who,  at  the 
best,  have  nothing  to  reveal  which  Christianity 
has  not  taught  for  these  nineteen  hundred  years 
and  more,  and  who,  at  the  worst,  make  the 


Satanic  Spiritism  161 

blasphemous  assertion  that  the  highest  religion  is 
to  have  no  religion  at  all? 

With  the  argument  put  forward  by  many 
Spiritualists  that  their  efforts  are  doing  good  in 
the  direction  of  converting  many  from  blank 
materialism  to  a  belief  in  some  sort  of  future 
life,  I  have  already  dealt.  The  thorough-going 
materialist,  let  me  repeat,  has  no  time  for  in- 
vestigations of  this  sort  and  he  certainly  will 
not  accept  other  people's  accounts  at  second- 
hand. The  inquirer,  on  the  other  hand,  who 
honestly  seeks  for  enlightenment  from  this  source, 
will  find  all  the  evidence  for  the  truths  which 
he  is  seeking,  if  he  consults  his  own  conscience, 
his  own  reason  and  the  teaching  of  the  Church 
founded,  so  many  hundreds  of  years  ago,  by 
Christ.  And  in  this  connection  I  think  a  sen- 
tence from  Mr.  Raupert's  book  is  worth  quot- 
ing: "The  Spiritualistic  view  of  the  other 
state  is  but  a  dignified  kind  of  materialism, 
which  has  no  necessary  connection  with  the 
moral  life,  and  which  chiefly  appeals  to  that 
side  of  our  nature  from  which  high  moral  effort 
and  endeavour  can  scarcely  be  looked  for.  The 
prospect  of  a  necessary  and  inevitable  and  never- 
ending  procession,  much  on  the  basis  of  the 
present  life,  is  apt  to  lull  the  human  soul  to 
sleep  and  to  rob  it  of  that  constant  stimulus  to  a 
life  of  higher  attainment  and  greater  purity  which 
the  Christian  system,  and  a  ready  obedience  to  the 
promptings  of  conscience,  are  known  to  create." 

L 


162  What  of  To-Day  ? 

In  fact,  even  if  a  stray  Materialist  should,  by 
investigating  the  phenomena,  succeed  in  convinc- 
ing himself  that  his  conscious  existence  would 
continue  after  death,  that  in  itself  would  not  pro- 
vide any  reason  or  inducement  for  him  to  nourish 
his  moral  and  spiritual  nature.  The  next  world, 
he  is  informed  by  the  spirits,  is  much  the  same  as 
this  one,  while  the  pleasantness  or  unpleasantness 
of  his  surroundings  there  will  apparently  depend 
not  on  whether  his  life  here  has  been  a  pure 
and  virtuous  one,  but  on  the  refinement  or  vul- 
garity of  his  tastes  I  The  spirits  will  tell  him 
nothing  of  God,  nothing  of  duty,  nothing  of 
the  necessity  of  self-discipline.  They  will  have 
no  message  to  give  him  concerning  religion, 
and  while  it  is  possible  that  they  will  hint 
vaguely  at  a  certain  amount  of  discomfort  to  be 
endured  by  the  irreclaimably  vile  and  vicious 
of  mankind,  they  will  be  careful  to  make  it 
quite  clear  that  a  man  of  cultured  tastes  and 
refined  temperament  —  such  as  himself  —  will, 
after  death,  be  conducted  to  a  delightful,  if 
rather  suspicious  material,  Summerland,  where 
his  intellectual  and  artistic  requirements  will  be 
satisfied  to  the  full.  How  can  it  benefit  a  man 
to  be  taught  such  a  creed  as  that? 

There  are  many  Spiritualists,  again,  who  will 
tell  you  that  to  hold  weekly  or  daily  converse 
with  those  they  have  loved  and  lost — as  they 
fully  believe  they  do — is  the  only  thing  that 
makes  life  tolerable  for  them.  Is  life,  then,  so 


Satanic  Spiritism  163 

long,  or  have  we  grown  so  impatient  of  all 
suffering  that  we  cannot  wait  trustfully  for  a 
few  years  till  we,  in  our  turn,  shall  join  those 
beloved  ones  ?  Cannot  we  stand  manfully  and 
faithfully  at  our  posts,  doing  our  appointed 
work,  and  relying  on  God  for  the  consolation 
and  comfort  that  we  need  ?  If  we  find  our 
duties  too  hard  and  irksome,  can  we  not  turn 
for  help  towards  Him  who  is  the  source  of  all 
strength  and  courage  ?  The  Roman  soldier,  who 
stood  to  his  post  at  the  gate  of  Pompeii,  while 
all  the  world  was  crashing  about  him  into  ruin, 
and  the  panicjstricken  populace  were  crushing 
each  other  to  death  in  their  frantic  struggles  to 
escape  from  the  doomed  city,  knew  better  what 
duty  meant  than  do  many  of  our  so-called 
Christians  to-day. 

Perhaps  the  most  amazing  of  all  the  claims 
put  forward  by  Spiritualists  is  the  assertion  that 
it  has  been  reserved  for  them  alone,  of  all  the 
generations  of  men,  to  make  the  discovery  that, 
to  use  a  phrase  constantly  in  their  mouths, 
'  There  is  no  death."  We  are  not  to  under- 
stand by  this,  of  course,  that  they  have  succeeded 
in  abolishing  the  physical  phenomenon  of  the 
death  of  the  body ;  all  they  mean  to  imply  by 
this  juggling  with  words  is  that  the  soul  lives 
on  after  it  has  quitted  its  tenement  of  flesh. 
Well,  common  sense  alone  taught  most  men 
that  long  before  the  days  of  professional  me- 
diums, and  even  before  Christ  came  on  earth 


164  What  of  To-Day  ? 

to  redeem  mankind,  the  nations  of  antiquity 
never  quibbled  much  over  the  immortality  of 
the  soul.  The  chief  problem  that  exercised 
them  was  the  future  life  and  the  ultimate  des- 
tiny of  that  soul,  on  which  point  the  wisest  of 
the  old  Greek  philosophers  is  better  worth 
listening  to  than  the  most  talkative  of  the  spirits 
that  haunt  the  modern  stance-room. 

The  heart  of  man  is  restless  by  nature  until 
it  finds  peace  in  God,  Who  alone  knows  and 
satisfies  its  inmost  life.  What  else  do  the  rest- 
lessness and  discontent  and  ceaseless  cravings 
after  something  new,  whether  in  the  religious 
or  social  order,  signify  than  that  the  world  has 
turned  away  from  God  and  is  seeking  vainly 
elsewhere  for  something  that  may  for  a  moment 
soothe  its  jaded  spirit,  or  satisfy  its  weary  and 
worn-out  senses  ?  It  is  not  in  the  seance-room 
that  humanity  will  find  its  God  awaiting  it ;  it 
is  not  by  holding  converse  with  fraudulent  or 
lying  spirits  that  man  will  find  the  solution  of 
the  problem  of  his  being;  it  is  not  by  suffer- 
ing himself  to  be  made  the  toy  and  plaything 
of  devils  that  man  will  arrive  at  the  knowledge 
of  the  Eternal  Truth. 

If  any  of  those  who  read  these  words  have 
been  attracted  by  curiosity,  or  for  any  other 
reason,  to  dabble,  however  lightly,  in  these 
things,  may  I  beg  of  them  very  earnestly  to  ask 
themselves  what  possible  profit  it  can  be  either 
to  them  or  others  to  meddle  with  matters  which 


Satanic  Spiritism  165 

are  beyond  their  understanding?  While  we 
have  the  words  of  Christ  before  us,  and  the 
teaching  of  the  Church  of  Christ  to  guide  us, 
how  shall  it  advantage  us  to  go  behind  either? 
I  have  already  spoken  briefly  of  the  very  real 
perils  awaiting  those  who  open  the  door  to  the 
inrush  of  the  evil  influences  ever  about  us ;  but, 
apart  from  these,  what  has  Spiritualism  to  offer 
to  your  soul  in  the  way  of  spiritual  nourishment 
in  any  sense  comparable  with  the  gifts  of  God 
through  the  Mediatorship  of  His  Divine  Son? 

This  chapter  I  have  entitled  "  Cui  Bono?"  I 
have  used  the  expression  in  its  borrowed  rather 
than  in  its  native  sense — not  asking  "To  whom 
is  it  of  use?"  but  rather,  "What  is  the  use 
of  it?" 


XVII 
THE   SPIRIT  OF  COMPROMISE 

ONE  of  the  worst  faults,  I  have  always  thought, 
in  the  Englishman's  character  is  his  love  of 
compromise.  Some  people  regard  it,  I  know, 
as  almost  a  virtue.  "  Look,"  they  exclaim,  "  how 
England  has  flourished  under  this  common 
sense  system.  Here  you  have  a  country  whose 
constitution  is  a  compromise,  whose  govern- 
ment is  a  compromise,  whose  politics  are  a 
compromise,  whose  whole  Empire  is  a  com- 
promise, and  see  the  result.  A  free  people,  a 
wonderful  power  in  the  world,  and  a  glorious 
Empire.  Oh,  the  English  are  a  great  nation!" 

Well,  I  believe  they  are ;  but  I  am  not  at 
all  sure  that  they  might  not  be  greater  still  if 
that  spirit  of  compromise  had  been  kept  within 
due  bounds.  And  I  am  quite  certain  that  they 
will  not  be  a  great  nation  for  very  much  longer 
unless  they  put  their  foot  down  very  decidedly, 
and  very  quickly,  upon  what  has  of  late  years 
been  rapidly  developing  into  a  fixed  habit. 

Even  in  their  religion,  Englishmen  have 
effected  some  very  extraordinary  compromises 
in  the  past,  but  it  has  remained  for  our  own 

166 


The  Spirit  of  Compromise   167 

day  to  witness  the  most  extraordinary  compro- 
mise of  all — a  compromise  with  the  Almighty 
Himself. 

The  modern  man  has  become  dissatisfied  with 
God's  revelation.  He  admits  that  there  is  a 
God,  but  he  is  by  no  means  clear  in  his  own 
mind  as  to  the  relative  rights  of  the  Creator 
and  the  creature.  So,  in  his  own  feeble  mind, 
he  makes  a  compromise.  He  is  a  free  man, 
and  he  will  do  what  seems  good  to  him.  He 
will  taste  all  the  pleasures  and  enjoyments  of 
this  world  in  which  he  finds  himself,  he  will 
indulge  in  no  foolish  scruples  about  sin  or 
morality,  and  then,  when  he  comes  to  die,  he 
will  meet  his  God  with  a  sure  hope  of  being 
accepted  at  his  own  valuation. 

"  He's  a  good  fellow,  and  'twill  all  be 
well."  That  is  the  latest  philosophy,  the  latest 
morality,  the  latest  compromise.  An  ingenious 
scheme  whereby  a  man  can  save  himself  from 
all  prickings  of  his  conscience,  and  hopes  to 
have  a  good  time,  without  bother,  both  here 
and  hereafter. 

Many,  very  many  years  ago,  we  were  told 
that  we  cannot  serve  both  God  and  Mammon, 
and  for  many  years  the  world  accepted  the 
teaching.  Men  frankly  served  one  or  the 
other.  But,  nowadays,  our  superior  wisdom 
has  begun  to  revolt  against  this  doctrine.  Why, 
it  is  asked,  if  he  makes  himself  as  comfortable  as 
he  can  in  this  world,  should  a  man  be  debarred 


168  What  of  To-Day  ? 

from  participating  in  the  joys  of  the  next?  We 
are  human  beings  ;  is  it  not  likely  enough  that 
we  are  placed  here  to  follow  the  bent  of  our  own 
human  nature  ?  In  short,  God  is  not  going  to 
be  so  unjust  as  to  punish  us  for  a  few  trifling 
lapses ;  for  taking  our  pleasures  as  they  come ; 
for  getting  what  we  can  out  of  this  life. 

But  what  this  sort  of  people  never  seem 
able  to  comprehend  is  that  we  cannot  serve  two 
masters  whole-heartedly.  There  is  nothing  in 
this  world,  I  verily  believe,  that  a  man  cannot 
have  if  he  chooses  to  pay  the  price.  But  he 
cannot  have  anything  by  compromise.  If  he 
wishes  for  the  good  things  of  this  world,  he 
must  serve  the  world  with  no  thought  of  any 
other  master.  But  if  his  heart  is  set  on  higher 
things,  then  he  must  give  his  service  to  the  One 
Who  can  reward  him  according  to  his  self- 
denial. 

How,  then,  is  it  possible  to  love  both  God 
and  Mammon,  to  give  our  hearts  and  minds 
and  souls  unreservedly  to  each  ?  Can  a  politician 
be  at  the  same  time  a  pronounced  Liberal  and 
a  staunch  Conservative  ?  Can  a  patriot  at  the 
same  time  love  his  native  land  and  plot  evil 
against  her  ?  Can  a  soldier  fight  for  and  against 
his  country  simultaneously?  If  you  wish  for 
the  world's  prizes,  serve  the  world  with  all  your 
strength  and  they  are  yours.  But  you  must  not 
expect  to  be  paid  by  two  masters  for  the  ser- 
vices you  have  rendered  to  one. 


The  Spirit  of  Compromise   169 

"Well,"  I  can  hear  some  one  protesting, 
"this  is  all  very  fine,  but  it  is  mightily  unprac- 
tical. After  all,  we  have  got  to  live  in  the  world, 
for  a  time,  at  any  rate,  and  unless  we  all  go  into 
monasteries,  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  we  are  to 
avoid  giving  some  measure  of  service  to  the 
world." 

I  admit  that  it  is  difficult,  but  only  difficult 
because  we  are  so  constantly  tempted  to  give 
our  whole  service,  and  not  a  part  of  it,  to  the 
world.  And  here  we  come  back  to  the  whole 
point  of  duty.  We  have  many  worldly  duties 
to  perform  ;  we  have  to  give  our  service  to  this 
master  or  that ;  we  have  to  do  many  things 
that,  on  the  surface,  have  no  conceivable  rela- 
tion to  our  service  to  God.  But  it  is  on  the 
surface  only.  For  if  in  all  our  daily  work  we 
are  actuated  by  the  single-hearted  motive  of 
doing  all  things  well  and  thoroughly,  and  for 
the  honour  of  Him  Who  created  us,  then,  I 
say,  we  are  serving  God  and  not  the  world. 

In  so  acting,  we  are,  it  is  true,  ostensibly 
serving  the  world,  but  it  is  the  motive  which 
counts,  the  intention  which  is  of  vital  import- 
ance. And  it  is  this  motive,  this  intention 
which  differentiates  the  man  who  is  serving 
God  from  the  man  who  is  serving  the  world 
and  his  own  selfish  interests. 

This  point  of  view  solves  many  of  our 
modern  difficulties  with  regard  to  the  social  in- 
equalities of  mankind.  Why  should  one  man 


170  What  of  To-Day? 

serve  and  another  rule,  it  is  asked  ?  Why  should 
one  be  born  in  a  position  of  authority  and  one 
in  subjection?  So  far  as  I  can  see,  the  Socialist 
may  continue  asking  that  question  without  ever 
succeeding  in  eliciting  a  satisfactory  reply. 

Yet  surely  the  answer  is  plain  enough.  What 
does  it  matter  whether  for  a  few  short  years  I 
am,  in  the  world's  eyes,  your  superior  or  your 
inferior,  if  both  of  us  are  striving  to  carry  out 
the  duties  of  our  station  in  a  proper  spirit?  A 
good  servant  is  a  far  better  man  than  a  bad 
master,  and  a  good  master  is  equally  a  better 
man  than  a  bad  servant.  It  is  not  a  question 
of  position  at  all,  and  the  true  Christian,  the 
man  who  elects  to  serve  God,  is  not  in  the 
least  concerned  to  know  whether  the  world  ap- 
proves of  his  merit  or  not.  The  approval  that 
matters  to  him  comes  from  elsewhere. 

All  men  ought  to  be  equal  in  the  eyes  of 
the  world,  shrieks  the  Socialist ;  and  that  is  just 
where  Socialism  confesses  its  own  incapacity  for 
combatting  the  evils  of  life.  For  the  Socialist 
would  begin  at  the  wrong  end  in  his  endeavour 
to  set  everything  right.  The  dignity  of  service 
— and  in  that  word  I  include  all  service,  whether 
rendered  by  a  king  to  his  people,  by  a  footman 
to  his  master,  or  by  a  workman  to  his  employer 
— can  never  be  enhanced  in  the  smallest  degree 
by  what  the  world  chooses  to  think  of  it.  The 
good  servant,  in  whatever  capacity  he  serves, 
will  not  become  better  because  the  world  esti- 


The  Spirit  of  Compromise   171 

mates  him  more  highly.  Indeed,  he  would  be 
more  likely  to  degenerate,  for  the  world's  ap- 
plause is  apt  to  have  a  debilitating  rather  than 
a  bracing  effect. 

There  can  be  nothing  ignoble,  then,  about 
service,  provided  the  motive  is  good,  for  it  is  an 
essential  part  of  our  subjection  to  the  law  of  the 
Master  of  us  all.  Just  as  the  soldier  in  obeying 
his  officer,  obeys  his  king,  the  Christian  in  serving 
those  legitimately  placed  above  him,  obeys  his 
God.  So  true  is  this,  that  we  can  almost  surely 
deduce  from  a  servant's  honesty,  loyalty,  and 
devotedness  in  the  service  of  his  temporary 
master,  the  measure  of  his  honesty,  loyalty,  and 
devotedness  in  the  service  of  the  common  Lord 
and  Master  of  us  all. 

It  is  only  where  the  teaching  of  Christ  has  lost 
its  hold  upon  the  heart,  and  where  the  spirit  of 
the  age  has  crept  in,  usurping  its  place,  that  we 
find  an  insubordination  which  is  the  result  of  the 
Socialistic  tendencies  of  the  times  in  which  our 
lives  are  cast. 

No  doubt  there  will  be  plenty  to  attack  me  for 
using  that  word  "insubordination."  It  smacks 
too  much,  I  shall  be  told,  of  the  feudal  system, 
ecclesiasticism,  and  Heaven  knows  how  many 
other  dreadful  things.  I  care  little  for  that. 
What  I  do  care  for  very  much  is  to  rouse  my 
countrymen  to  a  sense  of  the  real  value  of  things, 
to  get  them  to  see  life  in  just  proportion,  to  serve 
God,  in  other  words,  rather  than  Mammon.  The 


i72  What  of  To-Day  ? 

using  of  one's  talents  to  their  full  is  one  matter, 
as  I  have  elsewhere  pointed  out,  the  insubordinate 
spirit  of  revolt  against  service  of  any  sort  is  quite 
another.  It  is  the  old  choice  between  God  and 
the  world  —  a  choice  which  admits  of  no  bar- 
gaining— no  compromise. 

Let  us  at  least  be  frank  with  ourselves.  If 
Christ's  way,  at  times,  seems  hard,  if  the  world's 
standard  of  honour,  morality,  and  conduct  seems 
infinitely  easier  for  us  to  go  by,  and  we  come 
to  the  conclusion  that  this  standard  is  "  good 
enough  "  for  us,  let  us  not  try  to  palter  with  our 
consciences  and  persuade  ourselves  that  it  will  be 
also  good  enough  for  God.  We  know  in  our 
hearts  that  the  matter  does  not  stand  thus.  We 
know  that  we  have  recognised  the  better  things ; 
and  that  if  we  choose  the  worse,  we  are  taking 
service  with  the  world  and  against  God.  And  if 
we  will  but  acknowledge  the  fact  freely,  and 
abandon  all  the  miserable  subterfuges  of  compro- 
mise, we  shall  not  find  ourselves  so  utterly  at  a 
loss  where  to  turn  for  help,  when  the  prizes  of 
the  world  are  proved  to  be  worthless  baubles,  and 
the  pleasures  of  the  earth  have  turned  to  dust 
and  ashes  in  our  mouths. 

The  guardsman,  the  trooper,  the  gunner,  now 
in  the  thick  of  it,  remind  us,  through  their  letters 
sent  from  the  shell-torn  trenches,  that  in  the 
mercy  of  God  and  in  fervent  prayer  to  Him  is 
their  inspiration,  their  hope,  their  trust.  Listen  to 
this  extract  from  a  letter  now  before  me  :  ' '  Facing 


The  Spirit  of  Compromise   173 

death  quietly  night  and  day  is  a  good  reminder 
there  is  another  life  beyond  the  grave.  To  see  a 
brave  friend  lying  dead  beside  you  is  good  for  the 
soul."  And  this:  "Nothing  bucks  a  fellow  up 
so  much  under  a  hell  of  fire  as  feeling  you're 
all  right  with  God.  As  you  used  to  say  in  your 
sermons  :  Isn't  He  just  splendid?  " 


XVIII 

IS   ENGLAND  CHRISTIAN? 
I. — THE  MIND  OF  ENGLAND 

No  one,  I  hope,  will  quarrel  with  me  for  draw- 
ing a  distinction  between  the  bad  Christian  and 
the  nominal  Christian  ;  between,  that  is  to  say, 
the  man  who,  though  he  may  live  recklessly  and 
immorally,  acknowledges  and  retains  a  genuine 
belief  in  the  fundamental  truths  of  Christianity, 
and  the  man  for  whom  Christianity  simply  does 
not  count  in  any  thought  or  action  of  his  life. 
The  distinction  is  a  vital  one,  for  while  the  bad 
Christian  will  be  conscious  of  his  ill-doing,  and 
will  probably  make  spasmodic  efforts  to  reform 
himself,  the  man  who  has  utterly  cast  aside  his 
faith  will  not  admit  the  need  for  repentance. 
His  conscience,  in  fact,  will  have  ceased  to 
reprove  him,  and  that  is  a  very  terrible  state  to 
be  in. 

In  discussing,  then,  the  question  how  far  Eng- 
land can  rightly  be  called  a  Christian  country,  it 
is  useless  to  search  out  the  statistics  of  Sunday 
church-going,  or  to  look  up  criminal  records,  or 
to  examine  the  increase  or  decrease  in  the  con- 
sumption of  alcohol.  Such  things  are  well  enough 
in  their  place,  but  they  do  not  tell  us  anything 

174 


Is  England  Christian?       175 

concerning  the  religious  feeling  of  a  country. 
The  worst  drunkard  in  the  kingdom  may  be  a 
real  Christian,  fighting  against  a  vice  which  is 
constantly  overcoming  all  his  efforts,  just  as,  alas, 
the  most  habitual  church-goer  may  have  half  a 
dozen  reasons  for  his  constant  attendance,  even 
though  he  lacks  all  belief  in  the  spiritual  efficacy 
of  religion. 

The  matter  is  one  of  atmosphere — I  had  al- 
most said  of  intuition — and  we  can  only  arrive 
at  a  satisfactory  estimate  of  the  Christianity  of 
any  country  by  asking  ourselves  further:  "Is 
the  mind  of  that  country  Christian?  Is  her 
heart,  her  will,  her  character,  and  her  religion 
Christian?" 

And  where  are  we  to  find  evidence  of  the 
mind  of  England  ?  Where  else  but  in  the  out- 
put of  her  mind — in  the  library,  upon  the 
platform,  in  the  press  and  on  the  stage. 

Take,  then,  in  the  first  place,  the  thousands 
of  volumes  that  are  published  in  this  country 
every  year,  and  inquire  of  the  free  libraries,  the 
lending  libraries,  the  booksellers  and  the  publishers 
as  to  what  books  have  the  largest  circulation. 
They  will  tell  you  that  the  books  which  make 
the  greatest  sensation  and  are  the  most  widely 
read  are  not  good  books,  but  bad  books,  bad  as 
regards  questions  of  religion,  or  of  morals,  or  of 
both. 

The  books  that  are  read  to-day  by  the  man 
in  his  club,  by  the  woman  in  her  boudoir,  by 


176  What  of  To-Day? 

the  girl  behind  the  counter,  and  the  young  man 
in  the  street,  are  the  books  that  cannot  feed 
the  Christian  mind.  In  our  cities  there  is  an 
ever-increasing  population  drinking  at  the  Sty- 
gian pools  of  filth,  feeding  upon  the  offal  of 
literature,  and  learning  lessons  of  degradation 
and  shame. 

It  will  be  retorted  upon  me  that  I  know 
nothing  about  it,  but  I  do  know.  I  have  taken 
these  books  up ;  I  have  seen  them  in  the  garret  in 
the  East  End,  I  have  seen  them  in  the  boudoir 
of  the  rich,  I  have  seen  them  in  the  clubroom, 
and  cast  about  like  garbage  in  hotels. 

Why  is  literature  like  this  ?  Because  the 
people  will  have  it  so.  Let  a  man  write  a  clean, 
wholesome,  and  instructive  book,  and  he  will 
have  to  go  round  with  it  in  his  hand,  begging 
his  friends  to  buy  it.  The  amount  of  balderdash, 
of  lying  hysteria,  that  is  sent  broadcast  over  the 
country,  and  eagerly  devoured  by  the  public,  is 
almost  incredible.  Not  many  weeks  ago,  before 
the  war  broke  out,  I  asked  a  literary  friend  of 
mine,  who  was  in  the  habit  of  writing  stories  for 
publishers,  why  he  did  not  make  some  serious 
contribution  to  the  literary  market.  He  replied : 
'  Whenever  I  venture  to  send  a  story  or  article 
calculated  to  do  some  good,  it  is  invariably 
returned  with  some  such  comment  as  '  too 
stodgy,'  or  'the  public  will  not  have  it,'  or 
'we  do  not  publish  sermons.5' 

Still  worse,  there  are  novels  which  command 


Is  England  Christian?       177 

an  immense  sale,  whose  whole  tone,  though  not 
frankly  indecent,  tend  to  the  propagation  of  such 
irreligion  and  immorality  as  no  sane  Christian 
would  tolerate  for  a  moment.  There  is  no 
direct  attack  on  Christianity  in  such  books,  but, 
what  is  infinitely  more  dangerous,  its  doctrines 
and  teaching  are  tacitly  assumed  to  be  obsolete 
and  the  actions  of  the  characters  are  guided 
entirely  by  the  light  of  their  own  reason — or 
rather  of  their  own  inclinations.  The  author 
apparently  takes  it  for  granted  that  the  reader 
will  approve,  not  necessarily  his  characters'  lives, 
but  at  least  the  freedom  from  restraint  with 
which  they  act.  And  to  judge  by  the  sales  of 
these  books,  such  approval  is  easy  to  obtain. 
But  assuredly,  if  literature  in  England  to-day  is 
non-Christian,  it  is  because  the  minds  of  its 
readers  are  non-Christian,  because  the  mind  of 
England  is  not  Christian. 

Again,  what  of  the  Press  ?  The  Press  that 
has  its  hand  upon  the  public  pulse,  the  Press 
that  judges  to  a  nicety  what  its  patients  require, 
what  its  patients  dislike,  what  its  patients  devour 
gluttonously.  You  may  take  up  any  ordinary 
daily  paper  and  read  it  through,  and  you  might 
come  to  the  conclusion  that  there  was  no  per- 
sonal God  at  all,  only  the  fetish  of  the  hour. 

Not  that  the  Press  denies  the  existence  of 
God.  That  is  not  its  province,  but  it  expounds 
everything  without  the  mention  of  His  Name. 
It  will  tell  you  it  is  a  daily  record  of  daily 

M 


178  What  of  To-Day? 

events,  that  it  is  interested  only  in  recording 
them,  and  that  it  knows  no  other  section  of  the 
public  to  whom  it  can  offer  a  circulation. 

The  Press  will  record  a  Parliamentary  debate 
on  a  religious  question  which  has  got,  somehow 
or  other,  inextricably  tangled  up  with  politics, 
and  it  will  give  a  leader  possibly  on  that  sub- 
ject, with  an  occasional  column  of  colourless 
"Church  Notes."  But  the  Press  knows  nothing 
of  the  Kingdom  of  God,  it  ignores  the  claims  of 
Jesus  Christ,  it  has  nothing  to  say  concerning 
the  interests  of  the  immortal  soul. 

How  heavily  handicapped  a  high  principled 
journal  is,  how  difficult  for  it  to  compete  in 
this  race  for  readers  with  those  papers  which  are 
merely  a  record  of  facts  which  never  happened, 
to  please  a  public  which  never  thinks ! 

Yet,  if  the  Press  is  non-Christian,  it  is  not 
altogether  the  Press  that  we  must  blame.  It  is 
non-Christian  because  its  readers  are  non-Christian, 
because  the  mind  of  England  is  not  Christian. 

Once  more,  let  us  take  the  Stage.  No 
matter  what  may  be  said  for  the  drama,  no  one 
will  pretend  that  it  is  a  means  of  drawing  people 
to  think  more  of  God  and  the  eternal  interests 
of  their  own  souls.  All  plays  are  not  bad,  even 
if  the  best  that  can  be  said  of  them  is  that 
they  serve  to  amuse  or  pass  pleasantly  a  couple 
of  hours.  But  I  fear  it  cannot  be  denied  that, 
for  the  most  part,  the  play  that  attracts  is  the 
immoral  play;  the  entertainment  that  draws  is 


Is  England  Christian?        179 

the  one  that  appeals  to  the  senses ;  the  theatre 
or  music-hall  that  makes  most  money  is  the  one 
that  caters  most  openly  to  the  frankly  pagan 
instincts  of  the  crowd. 

At  its  best  one  can  hardly  maintain  that  the 
theatre  feeds  the  soul.  At  its  worst,  it  rouses 
the  passions,  stirs  the  senses,  and  banishes  all 
thought  of  religion  from  the  minds  of  its 
devotees.  A  so-called  problem  play,  or  a 
sensuous  musical  comedy,  is  not  exactly  de- 
signed to  stimulate  the  spiritual  life  of  the 
Christian.  It  cannot  do  him  any  good;  it  may 
do  him  irreparable  harm. 

What,  then,  is  the  mind  of  England?  Judged 
by  its  literature,  its  Press,  and  its  drama,  I  say 
it  is  not  Christian. 

It  may  be  objected  to  me  that,  after  all, 
even  in  these  aspects  England  is  not  only  no 
worse  than  other  countries,  but  is  not  so  bad 
as  many.  Is  it  really  any  satisfaction  to  a  man 
to  feel  that,  though  an  evil  liver,  he  is  not 
quite  so  abandoned  as  his  next-door  neighbour? 
Let  us  not  trouble  ourselves  about  the  iniquities 
of  other  countries.  Let  us  come  to  our  own 
horrors,  our  own  iniquities,  and  not  for  ever  be 
gathering  in  great  crowds  to  protest  against  this 
or  that  evil  abroad.  The  Englishman  loves  to 
point  out  his  neighbour's  wrong-doing — a  char- 
acteristic which  has,  perhaps  not  unjustly,  earned 
for  him  that  reputation  for  hypocrisy  and  cant 
with  which  all  other  nations  credit  him.  Cannot 


i8o  What  of  To-Day? 

we  for  once  in  a  way  play  the  game  and  attack 
ourselves,  and  be  men  even  if  we  are  seemingly 
no  longer  Christians  in  the  dogmatic  sense  of  the 
word  ?  Let  us  shut  our  eyes  to  the  motes  in  the 
eyes  of  others  and  open  them  to  the  beams  in 
our  own. 

II. — THE    HEART  OF  ENGLAND 

THOUGH  the  mind  of  England  be  not  Christian, 
is  it  not  possible  that  her  heart  is,  after  all,  in 
the  right  place  ?  Much  was  forgiven  to  the 
woman  who  loved  much,  and  charity,  as  we 
know,  covers  a  multitude  of  sins.  I  have  pointed 
out  that  the  habitual  drunkard  may  recognise 
and  abhor  his  vice,  even  though  his  struggles 
against  it  seem  doomed  to  end  in  failure.  But 
if  he  uses  his  Christian  armoury  aright,  we  can 
trust  him  safely  to  Providence. 

Now,  how  does  our  country,  as  a  whole, 
stand  in  this  respect?  Does  she,  as  a  frail 
Christian,  loathe  the  vices  she  is  too  weak  to 
conquer?  Does  she,  as  a  believing  Christian, 
look  for  strength  and  forgiveness  to  a  Higher 
Power?  Does  she  still  strive,  in  spite  of  many 
failures  and  repeated  transgressions,  and  in 
however  feeble  a  fashion,  to  obey  that  Divine 
ordinance  of  Christ:  "If  you  love  Me,  keep  My 
commandments"?  Does  she,  in  fine,  display 
that  hatred  of  sin  which  is  the  measure  of  the 
love  we  bear  to  our  Creator? 

This  is  a  test  which,  if  truly  applied,  should 


Is  England  Christian?        181 

prove  an  infallible  one.  However  vicious  or 
criminal  a  man  may  be,  his  future  is  not  to  be 
despaired  of  if  he  recognises  his  position.  A 
number  of  powerful  motives  may  impel  him  to 
commit  his  evil  actions,  but  so  long  as  he  knows 
that  they  are  evil,  there  is  hope  for  him. 

Is  this  the  case  to-day  with  England?  Let 
us  examine  the  matter  from  this  standpoint, 
and  we  shall  be  able  to  ascertain  how  far  she 
is  Christian  by  the  measure  in  which  she  shows 
her  hatred  of  sin,  her  real  antipathy  to  vice  and 
iniquity. 

And  when  we  inquire  into  the  matter,  what 
are  we  told?  That  there  is  no  such  thing  as 
sin.  That  it  is  a  relic  of  a  bygone  superstition ; 
that  it  is  a  thing  dealt  with  by  popish  priests 
for  the  sake  of  having  a  confessional  and  hear- 
ing the  scruples  of  silly  people.  Sin,  we  are 
told,  is  merely  a  growing  pain — a  necessary  part 
of  nature's  system  of  evolution  through  which 
the  human  race  is  progressing. 

How  can  the  God  of  Heaven  object  to  a 
man  enjoying  himself?  "If  there  is  a  God," 
as  someone  said  to  me  the  other  day,  "He 
wants  me  to  be  happy,  and  the  only  way  to  be 
happy  is  for  me  to  think,  to  say,  to  do  as  I 
please." 

That  may  be  some  people's  idea  of  happi- 
ness, though  even  the  pagans  of  old  taught  a 
nobler  system  of  morals.  And,  after  all,  if 
there  is  such  happiness  in  sin,  in  doing  what 


182  What  of  To-Day? 

one  pleases,  in  such  unfettered  freedom  of 
thought  and  action,  how  is  it  that  they  who 
have  the  best  opportunity  for  gratifying  every 
whim  are  the  most  miserable,  the  most  discon- 
tented, the  most  blase  people  to  be  found  on 
this  earth?  These  are  the  dullest  dogs  of  us 
all,  for  they  can  only  think  and  talk  about  one 
thing.  They  should  be  tied  to  a  chain  and 
driven  into  their  kennels. 

England's  estimate  of  sin  is  all  wrong ;  at 
one  end  of  the  scale  it  is  based  on  sentimentalism 
run  wild,  at  the  other  it  is  founded  on  philosophy 
gone  mad.  So  lightly  does  England  regard  sin 
to-day  that  she  has  ceased  to  see  any  virtue  in 
religion.  Hell  has  been  dismissed  with  costs, 
and  we  are  taught  that  if  there  is  a  heaven  at 
all,  it  is  to  be  on  earth,  and  that  Socialism  has 
discovered  it  and  intends  to  open  its  gates  to 
all  the  people.  That  is  what  has  become  very 
much  in  vogue,  if  not  in  such  direct  terms,  any- 
how in  thought  and  act  to-day  in  this  once 
honest  and  Christian  country. 

I  read,  not  so  very  long  ago,  two  reviews  of 
two  new  plays,  in  one  of  which  the  heroine 
professes  that  she  has  been  sinned  against,  and 
proclaims  her  own  intentions  in  some  such  words 
as  these:  "I  intend,"  she  says,  "to  sin  against 
others.  I  was  dragged  down  into  the  streets, 
and  I  intend  to  drag  others  down.  A  man 
ruined  my  life  and  covered  me  with  the  mire 
of  the  gutter,  and  I  have  set  myself  to  entangle 


Is  England  Christian?        183 

other  men,  and  I  glory  in  the  fact  that  I  have 
ruined  others." 

What  sort  of  pagan  philosophy  is  that?  Is 
that  the  object  lesson  that  should  be  taught  to  the 
man  in  the  street  ?  Is  that  the  sort  of  mental 
pabulum  on  which  our  countrymen  and  country- 
women are  to  grow  strong  ?  The  curtain  ought 
to  have  been  rung  down,  not  at  the  end,  but 
at  the  opening  scene  of  that  play. 

In  the  review  of  the  second  play  I  came  upon 
a  hero,  and  the  dilemma  of  the  plot  was  this : 
He  has  ruined  another  man's  wife,  and  from  the 
window  of  her  room  he  sees  a  fellow-man  done 
to  death.  Now  he  is  tortured  with  scruples, 
and  he  wonders  whether  he  ought  to  go  forth 
and  proclaim  the  innocence  of  one  who  might 
be  charged  with  the  crime. 

Now,  what  troubles  me  most  in  this  scheme 
of  things  is  that,  whereas  our  immoral  hero  has 
no  scruples  at  all  about  the  soul  murder  he  has 
committed,  he  is  greatly  concerned  about  a  body 
murder  committed  by  another  man.  What  kind 
of  morality,  I  would  ask,  is  this,  to  put  before 
other  people?  Here  is  a  man  entirely  undis- 
turbed about  the  great  wrong  he  himself  had 
wrought,  but  worried  and  anxious  about  an  affair 
with  which  he  had  nothing  to  do. 

I  believe  that  our  moral  sense,  in  this  country, 
is  getting  hopelessly  blurred  by  being  accus- 
tomed to  see  things  in  such  false  perspective. 
Indeed,  it  would  not  surprise  me  if  I  heard 


i84  What  of  To-Day? 

of  a  man  feeling  no  remorse  at  all  for  robbing 
a  girl  of  her  virtue,  and  yet  being  filled  with 
qualms  of  conscience  for  stealing  a  run  at  cricket. 
Could  anything  be  more  ridiculous,  more  ghastly? 
Our  sense  of  right  and  wrong  seems  to  be  wholly 
lost  or  perverted,  and  to  shield  a  woman's  honour 
appears  to  mean  nowadays,  not  to  protect  her 
virtue,  but  to  save  her  from  the  ignominy  of  being 
found  out. 

I  could  fill  pages  with  similar  instances  of 
wrong  thinking,  culled  not  only  from  our  drama, 
but  from  our  literature,  our  periodical  reviews, 
our  daily  and  weekly  press.  There  is  not  a  single 
commandment  the  breaking  of  which  is  not 
viewed  with  approval  in  one  form  or  another. 
There  are  no  deadly  sins  left,  and  the  rising 
generation  is  applauded  for  refusing  to  be  bound 
by  any  old-fashioned  rules  which  hamper  or  limit 
in  any  way  the  following  of  its  own  appetites 
and  inclinations.  All  sense  of  obligation,  all  idea 
of  honour  seem  fast  disappearing  from  this  land, 
which  once  prided  itself  on  its  steadfast  devotion 
to  duty.  Heaven  forbid  that  I  should  be  too 
sweeping  in  my  condemnation  of  my  fellow 
countrymen.  I  know,  and  I  recognise  with 
gratitude  and  joy,  that  there  are  many  who  still 
hold  to  the  ancient  ideals  of  our  fathers.  But 
these  new  and  insidious  teachings  are  gaining 
ground  with  dreadful  rapidity;  they  are  eating 
into  the  very  vitals  of  the  nation,  and  what  body 
can  remain  sound  and  clean  when  corruption 


Is  England  Christian?        185 

and  decay  have  already  made  havoc  of  its 
members? 

There  is  still  time  for  England  to  regain  that 
hold  on  Christianity  which  she  seems  to  be  fast 
relinquishing.  But  the  evil  is  very  real,  the  dan- 
ger very  pressing.  Action  and  reaction,  science 
tells  us,  are  always  equal  and  opposite,  and  we 
may  extract  some  comfort  from  the  thought 
that  when  the  pendulum  has  swung  a  certain 
distance  in  one  direction,  it  will  swing  back  again 
to  its  old  position.  For  all  that,  no  sane  citizen, 
no  Christian  man  can  view  the  past  decade 
without  misgiving.  If  England's  heart  be  not 
Christian,  if  England's  aspirations  be  not 
Christian,  to  what  inevitable  abyss  of  immorality 
and  anarchy  may  she  not  be  drifting  ?  '  Where 
thy  treasure  is,"  says  the  divine  Master,  "there 
is  thy  heart  also."  Where  is  England's  treasure? 

III. — THE  WILL  OF  ENGLAND 

IT  is  not  my  intention  to  enter  into  any  abstruse 
arguments  concerning  Free-will  and  Predestina- 
tion. Over-clever  people  may  split  hairs  on  this 
matter,  may  "  argue  high  and  low  and  also  argue 
round  about  it,"  but  in  the  last  resort  a  man's 
own  common-sense  will  tell  him  that  his  will, 
that  imperial  power  in  the  palace  of  his  soul,  is 
free.  He  may  so  weaken  it  by  habitual  and 
often-repeated  surrender  as  to  make  it  too  feeble 
to  assert  its  force,  but  those  very  acts  themselves 


186  What  of  To-Day? 

have  been  done  of  his  own  free  choice.  Like 
every  other  of  man's  powers,  physical,  mental 
or  spiritual,  the  will  requires  to  be  constantly 
exercised  if  it  is  to  be  kept  in  a  healthy  and 
vigorous  condition. 

You  can  imprison  a  man,  you  can  break  his 
body,  but  no  power  on  earth  can  break  his 
will.  You  can  acquire  an  enormous  influence 
over  another  man,  you  can  mislead  him,  you 
can  tempt  him  into  the  commission  of  all  sorts 
of  crimes  and  evil  acts,  but,  however  poor- 
spirited  he  may  be,  you  cannot  drive  or  lead 
him  farther  than  he  is  willing  to  go.  "It  is  of 
ourselves  that  we  are  thus  or  thus." 

It  is  a  man's  own  choice  whether  he  follow 
good  or  evil,  right  or  wrong,  Life  eternal  or 
Death  eternal.  There  is  nothing  in  this  world, 
or  the  next,  that  we  cannot  have  if  we  are  will- 
ing to  pay  the  price  demanded.  The  price  de- 
manded— that  is  the  point  !  For  this  freedom 
of  will,  this  liberty  of  choice,  bears  with  it  a 
terrible  responsibility.  The  man  who  says  "j 
am  free  to  do  as  I  like,"  speaks  truly  in  the 
sense  that  no  one,  not  even  God  Himself,  can 
force  him  against  his  will  to  choose  good  rather 
than  evil,  Heaven  rather  than  Hell.  But  if 
mentally  he  is  free,  morally  he  is  not  so.  And 
if  he  does  not  recognise  this  truth,  he  cannot 
call  himself  a  Christian. 

No  man  in  this  country  can  legally  sell 
himself  into  slavery,  and  in  the  same  way  no 


Is  England  Christian?        187 

man  has  the  moral  right  to  barter  away  his 
freedom  of  will.  For  that  is  what  he  does  when 
he  yields  himself  wholly  to  the  business  and 
pleasures  of  this  world.  Who  but  himself 
forges  chains  for  the  drunkard,  the  voluptuary, 
the  gambler  ?  A  man  may  gain  the  whole  world 
if  he  sets  his  mind  to  it,  and  the  world  in 
return  will  place  fetters  upon  him  from  which 
he  can  never  get  free.  Slavery,  absolute  and 
hopeless,  is  the  price  that  man  has  to  pay  who 
sets  his  heart  upon  merely  material  things. 

Those  who  flout  what  they  call  "  conven- 
tion," who  boast  that  they  have  freed  their 
minds  from  the  "chains  of  superstition,"  the 
"fetters  of  religion,"  find  themselves  in  no 
long  time  condemned  to  a  real  imprisonment, 
a  real  slavery  in  the  world. 

Is  the  man  whose  whole  thoughts  and  de- 
sires are  bound  up  with  material  things  any 
better  than  a  slave  ?  He  is  ever  at  the  world's 
beck  and  call,  he  has  no  hour  he  can  call  his 
own,  he  has  to  waste,  at  the  will  of  others, 
those  brief  fleeting  moments  which  will  never 
recur,  and  he  has  to  squander  in  idleness  and 
frivolity  those  precious  talents  which  were  given 
to  him,  not  for  the  world's  service,  but  for  his 
own  spiritual  advancement.  Can  such  a  man 
be  called  free  ?  He  may  shout  till  he  is  hoarse 
"Britons  never  will  be  slaves,  "  but  he  himself 
is  the  denial  of  the  boast. 

Too  much  intercourse  with  the  world  is  not 


188  What  of  To-Day  ? 

good  for  a  man.  Even  the  old  Pagan  philo- 
sopher who  tells  us  that  "he  never  left  the 
society  of  his  fellow-men  without  feeling  less 
a  man,"  knew  this.  For  the  man  who  would 
remain  free,  free  in  mind,  free  in  soul,  free  in 
spirit,  must  make  an  effort  to  retain  that  free- 
dom. He  must  find  time  for  meditation,  for 
self-communion,  for  contemplation  of  things 
other  than  the  world  recks  of,  nor  must  his 
wordly  affairs  be  so  engrossing  as  to  prevent 
him  withdrawing  himself  at  intervals  to  seek 
that  spiritual  refreshment  for  his  soul,  his  real 
self,  which  the  world  cannot  give.  Such  a  man 
may  truly  call  himself  a  Christian,  for  he  is  free 
— free  in  this  world  and  the  next. 

How  stands  it,  I  would  ask,  with  England 
in  this  respect  to-day?  Is  England's  will  free — 
is  England's  will  Christian  ? 

Can  anyone  look  on  the  disturbing  spec- 
tacle of  our  crowded  towns  and  our  neglected 
countryside  and  answer  that  question  in  any 
other  way  than  with  an  emphatic  negative  ?  A 
hundred  years  ago  there  were  80  per  cent,  of 
the  population  in  rural  districts  ;  fifty  years  ago 
the  population  was  divided  equally  between 
town  and  country ;  to-day  more  than  80  per 
cent,  of  our  people  live  in  our  mammoth  cities, 
seeking  amusement  and  excitement  to  drown 
their  cares,  to  forget  their  work,  to  forget  their 
duties. 

Even   the   politicians,   whose    chief    care    is 


Is  England  Christian?        189 

votes,  and  who  have  nothing  to  say  concerning 
the  souls  of  the  voters,  are  beginning  to  realise 
the  danger.  "  Back  to  the  land  "  is  the  vain 
cry,  and  endless  schemes  of  land  reform  are 
mooted  in  the  impossible  endeavour  to  get 
the  people  away  from  the  overcrowded  towns, 
back  to  the  peaceful  and  harmless  life  of  the 
country. 

But  I  grieve  to  say  that  you  will  never  per- 
suade the  people  of  England  to  go  back  to  the 
land  until  they  are  assured  that  amusement,  ex- 
citement, and  feverish  pleasures  of  every  sort 
are  to  be  had  within  easy  reach  of  every  farm. 
You  can  no  more  drag  them  out  of  the  music- 
hall  than  you  can  drag  them  into  church. 

Heaven  forbid  that,  in  speaking  like  this,  I 
should  be  thought  desirous  of  taking  away  from 
the  worker  his  legitimate  recreation.  No  one 
can  fail  to  observe  that  our  working  communi- 
ties need,  even  more  than  others,  some  relaxa- 
tion after  their  hard  and  strenuous  day's  work. 
No  man  who  knows  anything  about  the  lives  of 
those  millions  who  have  nothing  to  do  all  day 
but  pick  at  bits  of  machinery  and  perform  soul- 
less tasks,  can  fail  to  sympathise  with  their  long- 
ing for  a  laugh  in  which  to  forget  themselves. 
For  God's  sake  let  them  laugh.  For  God's  sake 
let  them  forget  themselves;  but  let  us  not,  in 
the  effort  to  lighten  their  lives,  pander  to  the 
lewd  and  lower  side  of  their  nature.  Surely  it 
is  possible  to  rouse  a  laugh  by  honest  and  clever 


i9o  What  of  To-Day? 

humour  as  easily  as  by  a  vulgar  song  or  a 
suggestive  play. 

Whose  fault  is  it  that  our  working  men  have 
abandoned  the  country  and  have  crowded,  and 
are  continuing  to  crowd,  into  the  towns  ?  Our 
fault — England's  fault !  And  having  got  them 
into  these  great  towns,  where  there  is  no  air  to 
breathe,  scarcely  room  to  live,  how  have  we — 
how  has  England — provided  for  their  relaxation 
and  amusement  ?  We  have  trained  them  to  take 
pleasure  in  what  is  low  and  vulgar ;  can  we  ex- 
pect them  to  give  up  the  excitement  and  the 
sense-delighting  fare  we  have  taught  them  to 
enjoy? 

And  so  the  vicious  circle  runs  on.  It  is  the 
will  of  England,  bent  only  on  material  gain, 
that  has  created  these  conditions  for  her  own 
sons.  And  now,  aghast  at  the  result  of  her  own 
handiwork,  England  feebly  raises  the  cry  of 
"  back  to  the  land."  So  might  a  frightened 
hen  run  wildly  up  and  down  the  banks  of  a 
pond,  cackling  to  the  ducklings  she  has  hatched 
to  return  to  the  soil  on  which  they  were  born. 

If  the  rich  were  setting  an  example  of  clean 
living  and  rational  enjoyment  to  the  poorer 
classes,  the  position  would  not  be  so  desperate. 
But  notoriously  such  is  not  the  case.  Never  in 
the  history  of  this  country  has  there  been  a  time 
when  the  upper  classes  have  so  profligately 
wasted  their  energies  in  the  pursuit  of  pleasure. 
The  gathering  of  money,  and  the  spending  of 


Is  England  Christian?        191 

it  in  a  thousand  reckless  ways,  seems  to  be  the 
one  object  on  which  the  mighty  Will  of  Eng- 
land is  concentrated. 

All  thought  of  duty,  of  discipline,  of  devotion 
has  been  cast  aside  before  the  overpowering 
desire  to  plunge  into  this  maelstrom  of  pleasure, 
to  satiate  the  senses,  and  then  devise  new  means 
of  gratifying  them.  The  grossest  materialism 
has  had  this  unhappy  country  by  the  throat,  and 
confident  though  we  may  be  in  the  ultimate 
triumph  of  good,  can  any  Christian  contemplate 
the  spectacle  of  such  abasement  without  a 
sickening  sense  of  failure  and  defeat  ? 

Is  it  not  time  for  England  to  bestir  herself, 
to  use  that  freedom  of  will  with  which,  in  com- 
mon with  all  mankind,  she  has  been  endowed, 
and  to  shake  off  the  shackles  of  the  monstrous 
slavery  in  which  she  has  been  lying  ?  This 
present  long-drawn  war  is  giving  us  time  to 
turn  round  and  review  our  past  lives.  May 
the  picture  presented  draw  from  England  the 
determined  cry,  "Never  again!' 

IV. — THE  CHARACTER  OF  ENGLAND 

FROM  these  three  qualities  which  exist  in  man, 
his  mind,  his  heart,  and  his  will,  there  comes 
a  resultant  force  called  character.  That  power 
which  is  the  sum  of  man's  excellences  or  de- 
ficiencies, that  figure,  that  engraving  upon  the 
individual,  that  personality  which  makes  him 


192  What  of  To-Day? 

distinct  from  everything  and  everyone  else. 
"Engraving"  was  what  the  Greeks  called  it, 
and  whose  image  and  superscription  is  engraved, 
we  may  ask,  upon  the  soul  of  England  to-day? 
Is  it  Caesar's,  or  is  it  God's? 

It  is  for  each  of  us  to  determine  how  we 
shall  engrave  our  personality.  Shall  it  be  with 
Christ  crucified,  Whose  followers  we  profess 
ourselves  to  be,  or  with  the  figure  of  Caesar,  plea- 
sure and  the  world  ?  It  is  not  only  mind,  heart 
and  will  that  determine  character.  Such  things 
as  heredity  and  environment  must  also  be  taken 
into  account.  And  it  is  for  this  reason  that  in 
trying  to  form  our  own  character  we  must  re- 
member our  collective  as  well  as  our  individual 
responsibility.  A  man's  character  affects  not  only 
himself,  but  his  neighbours,  and  his  descendants 
as  well. 

If  we  reflect  upon  this  for  a  little,  and  con- 
sider the  amount  of  good  or  evil  that  arises 
from  environment,  can  we  refuse  to  acknowledge 
that  there  is  a  great  and  pressing  need  for  help- 
ing those  who  live  in  the  most  squalid  and  evil 
surroundings,  and  that  we,  each  of  us,  have  a 
very  real  responsibility  in  connection  with  them? 
The  character  of  England  is  the  character  of  her 
people,  and  if  so  many  of  them  are  at  this 
moment  sweltering  in  the  slums,  and  being 
brought  up  in  the  most  squalid  circumstances,  how 
can  we  expect  their  character  to  be  Christian  ? 

We  see  daily  more  and  more  how  inefficient 


Is  England  Christian?          193 

is  our  Poor  Law  system,  how  inadequate  our 
methods  of  treating  those  who  are  in  need  of 
help,  whose  souls  and  bodies  are  stunted  for  lack 
both  of  material  and  spiritual  food ;  and  if  we 
have  a  spark  of  manhood  in  us,  we  realise  that 
some  real  effort  is  necessary  if  the  life  and  blood 
of  the  country  is  to  be  put  in  the  way  of  proper 
development.  But  it  is  not  sufficient  to  realise 
this.  Action  is  necessary.  But  how  many  of  us 
take  anything  more  than  an  occasional  interest 
in  such  things  ? 

Plenty  of  plausible  excuses,  no  doubt,  will  be 
forthcoming  from  the  individual  for  his  own 
apathy  in  the  matter.  I  shall  be  told — as  I  have 
been  told — that  it  is  all  very  regrettable  and  de- 
plorable, but  after  all,  it  is  Parliament's  business 
to  look  after  the  welfare  of  the  country,  and 
that  if  Parliament  neglects  its  duty,  it  is  difficult 
to  see  what  is  to  be  done,  except  in  the  way  of 
spasmodic  and  possibly  ill-directed  charity. 

Well,  I  am  no  politician,  but  I  think  my 
friends  are  right  who  say  that  this  a  matter  for 
Parliament's  attention.  But  if  it  be  true  that 
Parliament  neglects  this  grave  duty,  does  that 
relieve  us,  as  individuals,  of  our  own  responsi- 
bility? Is  not  Parliament  the  representative  of 
the  people  ?  Is  not  Parliament  the  expression  of 
the  people's  will — of  England's  will?  If  England 
had  sufficient  force  of  character  to  insist  that 
the  politicians  should  stop  mouthing  futilities, 
and  should  take  up  this  question  at  once,  could 

N 


i94  What  of  To-Day? 

any  Parliament  resist  the  unanimous  demand? 
No,  blame  Parliament  if  you  will,  but  the  country 
remains  responsible. 

Other  excuses  have  been  made  to  me.  "After 
all,"  I  have  been  told,  "you  must  not  be  im- 
patient. We  are  doing  our  best.  For  instance, 
we  are  making  vast  strides  in  education " 

Education !  Ah,  yes,  an  important  matter, 
this  education.  And  how  are  we  educating  our 
boys  and  girls  to-day?  Not  the  poor  only,  but 
the  rich,  for  the  education  of  both  is  of  equal 
urgency. 

If  we  inquire  into  this  question  we  shall  find 
that  instead  of  correcting  the  evils  of  environment 
by  trying  to  develop,  to  draw  out  the  best  that 
is  in  our  poorer  children,  and  to  eradicate  the 
harm  that  miserable  surroundings  have  already 
done  their  immature  minds,  we  hustle  them 
through  one  standard  after  another  as  quickly  as 
possible,  and  turn  them  adrift  to  fight  the  battle 
of  life  at  the  very  moment  when  they  are  least 
fitted  to  cope  with  the  world,  when  their  minds 
are  dazed  and  bewildered  with  a  few  bits  of 
knowledge  crammed  pell-mell  into  their  childish 
brains,  so  that  they  are  just  fit  to  enjoy  the 
dubious  delights  of  the  moving  pictures  or  the 
penny  dreadful. 

Of  the  spiritual  training  of  these  children, 
perhaps  the  less  said  the  better.  There  is 
now  a  great  outcry  against  religious  teaching 
of  any  kind  in  the  County  Council  schools. 


Is  England  Christian?         195 

So  that  I  suppose  we  shall  soon  arrive  at  a 
time  when  religion  will  be  altogether  divorced 
from  education,  and  so  long  as  a  university 
scholarship  is  occasionally  won  by  a  County 
Council  schoolboy,  we  shall  be  satisfied  that  we 
have  done  our  duty  by  him  in  every  respect. 

But  is  the  rich  man's  son  much  better  pro- 
vided for?  We  hear  a  great  deal  nowadays  about 
the  necessity  for  reform  in  our  big  Public  Schools. 
But  what  is  the  chief  complaint  alleged  against 
them?  It  is  not,  as  might  be  supposed,  that 
they  pay  too  little  attention  to  the  Christian 
education  of  the  boys,  that  the  religious  teaching 
is  perfunctory  or  neglected,  that  the  morals  of 
the  school  are  not  so  carefully  looked  after  as 
they  should  be. 

No,  the  charge  is  that  they  are  not  "  com- 
mercial" enough,  that  they  do  not  teach  a  boy 
the  things  that  will  enable  him  to  get  on  in 
the  world,  that  they  do  not  turn  out  a  sufficient 
supply  of  sharp  business  men.  Well,  no  doubt 
it  is  an  excellent  thing  to  be  a  good  business 
man,  but  there  are  other  things  even  more  im- 
portant, and  one  of  them  is  to  be  a  good 
Christian. 

But  England  is  apparently  inclined  just  now 
to  set  a  higher  value  on  the  good  business  man 
than  on  the  good  Christian,  and  that  is  a  signi- 
ficant indication  of  her  own  character.  She  has 
recognised  that  environment  counts  for  much 
in  the  formation  of  character,  in  the  production 


i96  What  of  To-Day? 

of  good  citizens,  in  the  moulding  of  her  chil- 
dren ;  yet  such  efforts  as  she  puts  forth  to 
control  that  environment  are  all  in  the  wrong 
direction. 

It  is  a  sign,  I  say,  of  England's  character 
that  Christianity  plays  so  small  a  part  in  her 
schemes  for  social  reform,  her  political  plans  for 
cajoling  this  or  that  section  of  voters.  Prob- 
lems are  daily  arising  which,  if  considered 
from  the  Christian  standpoint,  would  cease  to 
be  problems  at  all.  Yet  they  are  discussed,  and 
different  solutions  debated,  as  hotly  as  though 
they  had  not  been  settled  once  for  all  two 
thousand  years  ago. 

I  suppose  I  shall  be  excused  of  extravagance 
if  I  affirm  that  the  environment  of  the  rich  in 
this  country  is  as  bad,  morally,  as  that  of  the 
poor.  Yet  anyone  who  takes  the  trouble  to 
examine  the  condition  of  things  will,  I  think, 
agree  with  that  statement.  The  progress  of  me- 
chanical invention  alone  has  been  such,  during 
the  last  fifty,  and  particularly  the  last  twenty, 
years  as  to  make  the  surroundings  of  the  wealthy 
intolerably  luxurious.  They  have  been  so  pam- 
pered, so  petted,  so  glutted  with  comforts,  that 
it  has  required  nothing  less  than  a  world-shaking 
war  to  rouse  them  from  sinking  into  a  bottomless 
sea  of  apathy  and  indolence. 

There  are  others,  again,  whose  wealth,  they 
flatter  themselves,  lies  in  their  intellect.  They 
scorn  the  materialism  of  the  age,  as  much  as 


Is  England  Christian?         197 

they  scorn  the  essential  truths  of  Christianity. 
Such  men  create  an  atmosphere  of  religious 
doubt  and  disbelief  that  is  even  more  poisonous 
than  that  spread  about  by  the  free-thinker.  For 
the  lies  they  teach  are  half-truths.  They  take  a 
Christian  doctrine,  a  Christian  dogma,  and  pro- 
claim that  it  is  by  no  means  wholly  superstitious. 
It  contains,  in  fact,  quite  a  respectable  degree 
of  truth  if  it  be  interpreted  in  the  right  way, 
which,  needless  to  add,  is  their  way.  How  many 
are  there  to-day  in  this  country  whose  minds 
and  souls  have  been  led  astray  by  the  specious 
misrepresentations  of  Christian  Science,  Theo- 
sophy,  and  kindred  "religions"? 

I  look  around  me  and  see  the  mad  scramble 
for  money  and  pleasure  among  all  classes  in 
this  England  of  ours.  I  listen,  and  I  hear  only 
a  confused  babel  of  voices,  each  proclaiming 
it  has  a  new  truth  to  give  to  the  world.  Yet 
England  is  still  reckoned  among  the  Christian 
countries  of  the  world.  When  shall  we  pause 
to  set  our  house  in  order  ?  Before  England  can 
rightly  call  herself  Christian  again,  she  will  need 
a  good  spring-cleaning  of  the  most  thorough 
and  drastic  description.  The  war  is  doing  much 
for  us ;  it  is  building  character.  Most  of  the 
brave  wounded  men  with  whom  I  have  come  into 
contact  say:  "Well,  after  my  experience  under 
fire,  life  can  never  be  quite  what  it  was  before." 
Or  else  they  will  tell  you:  "When  you  are  in 
action  you  feel  nothing  but  a  worm,  utterly  and 


ig8  What  of  To-Day? 

absolutely  dependent  on  God,  ashamed  of  your 
past  and  strongly  resolved,  if  you  come  out  of 
it  all  right,  to  make  amends  in  the  future."  The 
actual  horrors  of  war  will,  with  God's  providence, 
be  seen  by  a  comparatively  small  number  of  our 
people.  But  is  it  too  much  to  hope  that  the 
lessons  will  not  be  lost  on  each  one  of  us? 


XIX 

SOCIALISM  AND  CHRISTIANITY 

SETTING  aside  the  abuse  which  the  party  news- 
papers deal  out  so  lavishly  to  their  political 
opponents,  I  take  it  that  there  is  no  reason 
why  a  good  party  man  should  not  be  a  good 
Christian.  There  is  nothing,  that  is  to  say,  or 
rather  there  ought  to  be  nothing,  inherently 
antagonistic  between  politics  and  Christianity. 
Indeed  that  is  a  mild  way  of  putting  it.  For 
the  two  ought,  in  any  Christian  country,  to 
be  run  in  double  harness. 

This  being  so,  it  is,  I  fancy,  because  Social- 
ism is,  or  would  like  to  be,  a  political  force 
that  many  worthy  people  are  unable  to  under- 
stand why  an  ardent  Socialist  should  not  also 
be  a  good  Christian.  Such  people  will  deprecate 
any  attack  on  Socialism  from  the  religious  point 
of  view.  Socialism,  they  will  urge,  has  not  ne- 
cessarily any  connection  with  religion.  It  deals 
solely  with  certain  reforms  in  the  economic  and 
social  life  of  the  community,  and  it  is  unjust 
to  the  poor  Socialist  to  brand  him  as  an  anti- 
religious  revolutionary,  when  he  is  in  reality  only 
doing  his  best  to  promote,  according  to  his  lights, 
the  welfare  of  the  poorer  classes. 


200  What  of  To-Day  ? 

So  strongly  is  this  view  held  among  a  certain 
section  of  entirely  worthy  people,  that  there  has 
actually  come  into  existence  a  hybrid  monstrosity 
which  calls  itself  Christian  Socialism.  And  this 
aspect  of  the  movement  renders  it  very  difficult 
to  deal  faithfully  with  the  real  article.  For  these 
self-styled  Socialists,  actuated  themselves  by 
what  no  doubt  are  noble  philanthropic  motives, 
reject  with  scorn  and  derision  any  adverse  criti- 
cism of  the  theory  and  practice  of  Socialism. 
They  declare,  in  language  about  the  meaning 
of  which  there  can  be  no  mistake,  that  Socialism, 
if  not  a  religious  movement,  is  at  any  rate  akin 
to  religion ;  that  it  is  a  system  of  philosophy 
which  is  the  outcome  of  the  religious  spirit, 
and  that  anyone  who  calls  these  statements  into 
question  must  be  denounced  as  narrow-minded, 
bigoted,  and  untruthful. 

If  such  individual  Socialists,  who  assure  us 
that  their  religion  is  in  no  way  tainted  by 
their  Socialism,  were  the  recognised  leaders 
and  propagandists  of  the  international  move- 
ment, there  might  possibly  be  some  hope 
of  salvation  for  Socialism,  but,  as  a  matter 
of  fact,  these  well-intentioned  gentlemen  are  at 
the  head  of  no  section  of  Socialism  whatever. 
They  ought  rather  to  be  called  what  we  ourselves 
are — Social  Reformers.  If  in  any  sense  they 
do  belong  to  the  socialistic  movement,  they  are 
its  free  lances.  They  do  not  count. 

Before  they  can  be  allowed  the  right  to  speak 


Socialism  and  Christianity  201 

in  the  name  of  Socialism,  they  must  enlist  and 
serve  under  its  flag,  and  prove  their  claim  to 
speak  authoritatively  in  its  name.  They  must 
further,  as  Socialists,  accept  the  whole  of  the 
socialist  teaching  and  must  not  pick  out  bits  of 
its  creed,  here  and  there,  as  suits  them,  and 
then  fancy  that  they  are  in  a  position  to  assure 
others  of  the  harmlessness  of  the  whole  of  its 
doctrine.  I  have  written  and  spoken  a  great 
deal  on  this  particular  subject,  and  if  I  have 
let  isolated  individuals  severely  alone,  I  have 
not  omitted  to  cite  recognised  authorities  in 
support  of  my  contention  that  Socialism,  as  an 
international  movement  and  in  its  broad  aspect, 
is  not  merely  non-religious,  but  anti-religious. 

I  have  been  called  slipshod,  bigoted,  shallow, 
and  narrow-minded,  but  abuse  cannot  alter  facts, 
such  facts  as  may  be  ascertained  not  only  from 
the  classic,  as  well  as  the  street  literature  put 
forth  and  published  in  the  name  of  Socialism, 
but  also  from  the  men  of  flesh  and  blood  who 
form  the  rank  and  file  of  this  advancing  army. 
Abroad,  as  at  home,  I  have  made  it  my  business, 
whenever  occasion  offered,  to  get  into  conver- 
sation with  Socialists  among  the  labouring  classes. 
In  this  way  I  have  had  quite  exceptional  chances 
of  satisfying  myself  about  the  effects  of  Socialism 
upon  the  religious  Character  and  practice  of  its 
most  ardent  votaries. 

The  impression  left  upon  my  mind,  in  practi- 
cally every  instance  I  have  come  across,  has 


202  What  of  To-Day  ? 

been  anything  but  favourable  to  Socialism  as  a 
going  religious  concern.  I  could  cite  innumer- 
able examples,  proving  up  to  the  hilt  that  the 
thorough-going  Socialist  finds  no  place  in  his 
life  for  religion.  Oftener  than  not  he  will  tell 
you  that,  after  becoming  a  Socialist,  he  has 
dropped  religion  altogether.  I  wish  I  could 
think  and  say  otherwise.  In  this  sad  business  I 
should  love  to  discover  that  I  was  mistaken.  But 
in  no  part  of  the  country,  in  no  diocese,  and  in 
no  parish  of  it,  have  I  yet  been  told  by  priest 
or  parson  or  people  that  my  verdict  upon 
Socialism  in  its  relation  to  religion  is  contra- 
dicted by  experience.  In  order  rightly  to  un- 
derstand the  real  attitude  of  Socialism  towards 
religion  we  must,  however,  examine  it  not 
merely  in  theory,  but  more  especially  in  prac- 
tice ;  in  a  word,  we  must  take  it  in  the  concrete 
as  a  great  international  system  with  its  public 
principles,  its  avowed  aims,  its  recognised  leaders 
and  apostles,  its  vast  propagandist  organisation, 
its  mob  orators,  its  foul  literature.  I  print  below 
two  letters  which  were  published  some  time  ago 
in  one  of  our  provincial  newspapers  and  which 
were  sent  to  me  at  the  time  for  reply. 

"  SIR, — I  am  enjoying  the  correspondence 
on  the  above  subject  in  your  columns.  I 
am  afraid  that  some  of  my  comrades  would 
mislead  your  readers  by  insinuating  that  there 
is  something  in  common  between  Socialism  and 


Socialism  and  Christianity  203 

Christianity.  There  must  be  no  flirting  with 
Christianity  under  the  guise  of  Christian  Social- 
ism, for  no  man  or  woman  can  be  a  Christian 
and  a  Socialist  at  the  same  time.  Because 
Socialism  stands  for  universal  wealth,  Christ  for 
universal  poverty;  Socialism  stands  for  this  world, 
Christ  for  the  next  world ;  Socialism  stands  for 
courage,  Christ  for  humility  and  meekness; 
Socialism  stands  for  the  human  race,  Christ  for 
God's  chosen  people ;  Socialism  stands  for  equal 
justice,  Christ  for  intolerance  and  bigotry ; 
Socialism  stands  for  human  reason,  Christ  for 
faith  in  God  ;  Socialism  stands  for  human 
knowledge,  Christ  for  revelation  from  God.  On 
all  these  important  points  Christ's  teachings  are 
in  distinct  antagonism  to  Socialism. 

"  Yours,  etc. 


This  is  candid  at  any  rate,  and  expresses  the 
Socialist's  point  of  view  to  perfection.  But  the 
following  is  even  stronger : 

"SiR, — You  deserve  the  hearty  thanks  of  all 
Socialists  for  the  courageous  way  in  which  you  are 
allowing  a  discussion  on  the  differences  we  have 
with  Christians.  Without  apologising,  I  will  give 
your  readers  some  reasons  why  we,  as  Socialists, 
reject  Christianity.  We  reject  Christianity  be- 
cause it  is  the  evangel  of  self-abnegation  instead 
of  self-realisation,  self-obliteration  instead  of  self- 


204  What  of  To-Day? 

assertion,  also  because  it  glorifies  altruism, 
duty,  humility,  submission,  contentment,  and 
the  other  slave  virtues.  We  believe  Christianity 
to  be  the  cause  of  the  decadence  of  the 
common  people,  and  for  the  existence  of  this 
respectable  barbarism  erroneously  described  as 
'civilisation.'  Civilisation  is  not  worth  having 
where  the  wants  of  the  individual  are  not 
satisfied.  For  what  is  civilisation  if  it  brings 
not  happiness?  For  this  we  reject  Christ- 
ianity. 

"We  reject  Christianity  because  we  think  it 
is  responsible  for  this  pseudo-civilisation,  with 
its  corroding  charity,  its  cant,  hypocrisy,  wage 
slavery,  the  sybaritic  splendour  of  the  parasites, 
and  the  squalid  misery  of  the  producer.  We 
believe  Christianity  to  be  a  curse  and  incubus 
on  the  minds  of  the  mutable  many.  For  this 
we  reject  it. 

"We  repudiate  Christianity  and  all  other 
theorems  that  quail  under  the  stern,  staunch, 
steadfast  gaze  of  reason  and  scientific  analysis. 
We  reject  it  because  its  devotees  have  ever 
been  the  enemies  of  progress  and  the  proleta- 
riat ;  because  it  is  founded  on  fiction,  not  fact — 
blindfold  belief,  not  judgment,  knowledge,  or 
reason. 

'We  reject  it  because  it  demoralises  the 
minds  of  the  demi-damned,  the  workers,  chloro- 
forms the  conceptions  of  womankind,  and  con- 
fuses and  confounds  the  brains  of  the  young. 


Socialism  and  Christianity  205 

Christianity   is   the   gospel   for    rainbow-chasers, 
snobocrats,  sucklings,  slaves,  and  sycophants. 

"Yours,  etc. 


I  can  fancy  the  dear  good  Christian  Socialist's 
distress  at  reading  such  letters  as  these.  How 
he  would  wring  his  hands  and  protest  very 
bitterly  against  the  writers ! 

"Indeed,  my  dear  Father,"  I  can  hear  him 
saying,  "these  people  you  quote  are  quite  mis- 
taken ;  they  haven't  grasped  what  Christianity  is 
or  what  Socialism  is ;  they  are  utterly  wrong- 
headed.  You  must  surely  admit  that." 

I  do.  But  I  also  recognise  that  we  must 
take  Socialism  and  judge  of  it  by  its  effects 
upon  such  writers  as  the  two  correspondents 
quoted  above,  who,  moreover,  are  repre- 
sentative of  scores  of  thousands  among  our 
toiling  fellow-countrymen.  And  I  would  say 
something  further.  The  Socialist  of  this  stamp 
may  be  mistaken,  wrong-headed — what  you  will — 
but  he  is  a  solid  fact — not  a  shadow  to  be  dis- 
sipated by  the  light  of  any  watered-down  theory 
of  Socialism.  And  if  the  Christian  Socialist 
complacently  dismisses  such  men  as  "extrem- 
ists," may  I  remind  him  that  in  revolutionary 
times  it  is  the  extremist  who  is  very  apt  to 
get  his  own  way  in  the  long  run.  He  rises  to 
power  on  the  shoulders  of  moderate  men,  who, 
too  late,  find  what  a  monster  they  have  brought 


206  What  of  To-Day? 

to  life,  and  all  their  own  timid  and  temperate 
counsels  are  swept  away  like  chaff  before  the 
wind. 

Does  not  all  history  confirm  that  lesson? 
And  I  solemnly  warn  these  Christian  Socialists 
that  they  are  lending  their  support  to  a  move- 
ment, which,  if  it  should  ever  prove  successful, 
will  assuredly  claim  them  as  its  first  victims.  They 
are  incurring  the  responsibility  of  directly  aiding 
to  establish  a  system  of  society  whose  inevitable 
result  would  be  the  destruction  of  that  Christ- 
ianity which  they  profess  to  hold  so  dear. 

For  my  part,  I  can  appreciate  the  Socialist, 
and,  much  as  I  abhor  his  views,  I  can  at  least 
understand  the  frank  expression  of  them,  But 
the  Christian  Socialist  I  can  neither  appreciate 
nor  understand.  To  the  Socialist  we  are  under 
a  debt  of  gratitude  for  forcing  us  to  pause  and 
study  the  social  wrongs  of  the  comrade  class, 
and  also  for  setting  us  a  noble  example  as  how 
to  work  whole-heartedly  for  a  cause  in  which 
its  advocate  believes.  It  is  not  in  social  revolu- 
tion but  in  social  reformation  that  we  must  put 
our  trust. 


I.  — TOPSY-TURVYISM 

I  HAVE  often  been  puzzled  to  know  why  those 
very  wonderful  young  men  who  are  so  con- 
stantly starting  new  movements  in  literature 
and  art  under  some  such  vague  terminology 
as  Futurism,  Cubism,  Vertiginism  and  so  on, 
should  find  it  necessary  not  merely  to  ignore 
religion — that  would  perhaps  be  intelligible  — 
but  actually  to  insist  on  irreligion  as  being  es- 
sential to  the  right  practising  of  their  novel 
principles.  Why  should  a  revolution  in  art 
forms  necessarily  imply  an  abandonment  of  our 
religious  ideas  ?  Such  revolutions,  not  quite 
so  hare-brained,  perhaps,  but  far -reaching 
enough,  have  occurred  many  times  in  the  past, 
but  I  cannot  recall  any  previous  school  of  art 
attacking  religion  as  such,  or  making  the 
abandonment  of  religion  a  sine  qua  non  of  its 
own  existence. 

Various  solutions  of  this  puzzle  might  be 
hazarded.  An  easy  way  out  would  be  to  write 
these  "pioneers"  down  as  insane,  and  so  not 
worth  noticing.  Or  again,  it  may  be  said  that 
since  their  intention  is  to  make  a  clean  sweep 

207 


2o8  What  of  To-Day? 


of  the  past,  religion  must  go  into  the  dust- 
bin, with  all  the  other  musty  "shibboleths' 
of  the  centuries.  But  then  that  is  hardly  logi- 
cal, for  religion  is  a  very  vital  thing,  and  is 
essentially,  for  each  one  of  us,  a  question  of 
the  moment  and  of  the  future. 

On  the  whole,  the  conclusion  I  have  come 
to  on  the  matter  strikes  me  as  being  the  most 
reasonable, rthough  perhaps  the  most  saddening, 
of  all.  These  wise  and  wonderful  young  men, 
I  take  it — and,  indeed,  we  have  it  on  their 
own  authority — are  out  to  make  a  noise  in  the 
world,  to  attract  attention  and  to  win  a  success, 
which  they  could  not  otherwise  hope  for,  by 
making  themselves  as  bizarre  and  grotesque  as 
possible.  But  that  in  itself  is  not  enough. 
Like  all  self-constituted  leaders,  they  not  only 
wish  to  make  a  splash,  they  also  require  fol- 
lowers. And  they  hope  to  gain  sympathy  for 
their  incongruous  and  ignorant  ideas  on  art 
and  literature  by  pandering  to  the  world's 
present  impatience  of  any  form  of  religious 
restraint. 

By  proclaiming  that  religion  is  to  exist  no 
more,  they  calculate,  with  a  considerable  amount 
of  worldly  cunning,  that  their  aims  will  be 
viewed  with  interest  and  sympathy  by  that 
large  number  of  people  who  want  to  find  some 
excuse  for  doing  without  God. 

Such  people  are  alarmingly  common  in  the 
world  to-day.  Some  of  them  try  to  satisfy  their 


Who  Wants  Religion?       209 

consciences  by  following  after  new  and  strange 
gods  and  philosophies,  some  are  openly  and 
sheerly  indifferent  to  any  other  life  but  the  one 
they  live,  and  some  are  seeking  desperately  for 
"proofs"  that  God  does  not  exist.  But  in  the 
end  it  all  comes  to  this :  that  a  terribly  large 
number  of  men  and  women  want  to  do  away 
with  religion  altogether,  in  order  that  they  may 
live  their  own  vicious  lives  and  obey  their  own 
disordered  instincts  without  having  to  bear  even 
the  silent  reproach  of  the  empty  church  in  the 
next  street. 

The  old  Puritans,  as  we  have  often  been  re- 
minded, were  so  saturated  with  their  peculiar 
ideas  on  the  subject  of  happiness  and  godliness 
that  they  suppressed  with  an  unsparing  hand 
even  the  most  innocent  forms  of  recreation. 
They  could  not  bear  to  see  their  neighbours 
happy  or  amused,  and  no  man  was  accounted 
virtuous  unless  he  went  about  with  a  long  face 
and  a  sombre  garb,  and  took  no  pleasure,  how- 
ever harmless,  in  mundane  things. 

We  are  in  a  fair  way,  it  seems  to  me,  to  be- 
come like  the  Puritans  turned  upside  down. 
Men  and  women  of  the  world  not  only  are  in- 
different to  religion,  but  they  want  it  put  out 
of  their  lives  altogether.  They  would  not  be 
thought  intolerant — that  would  be  bad  form — 
but  they  are  doing  all  they  can,  in  a  negative 
sort  of  way,  to  shove  religion  aside,  to  think 
about  it  as  little  as  possible,  and  to  talk  about 
o 


210  What  of  To-Day? 

it  even  less.  If,  by  a  rare  chance,  the  question 
of  religion  crops  up  in  conversation,  how  often 
do  you  hear  any  intelligent  discussion  on  it? 
Religion,  to  these  people,  means  less  than 
nothing,  because,  horrible  as  it  sounds,  they 
have  no  desire  to  be  reminded  that  they  have 
a  Creator,  a  Master  to  Whom  they  owe  a  very 
real  obedience.  They  want,  in  fact,  to  do 
without  God. 

More  horrible  still,  they  want  the  rest  of  the 
world  to  do  without  Him.  While  they  see  men 
still  leading  earnest  Christian  lives  around  them, 
while  they  see  others  still  going  to  church  on 
Sunday,  they  do  not  feel  wholly  comfortable  or  at 
ease.  They  want  everybody  to  be  in  the  same 
position  as  themselves,  with  no  priests  to  worry 
them  or  interfere,  however  ineffectively,  with 
the  good  time  they  are  having.  In  short,  they 
do  not  wish  to  be  reminded  that  a  day  of 
reckoning  is  bound  to  come  as  surely  as  their 
own  empty  and  frivolous  lives  must  have  an 
end. 

In  this,  as  in  so  many  other  things,  they 
are  worse  off,  spiritually,  even  than  those  Egyp- 
tians of  old  who  in  the  midst  of  their  wildest 
carousals  caused  a  representation  of  Death  to 
be  carried  through  the  banqueting  hall  to  re- 
mind the  careless  revellers  of  the  fate  that 
inevitably  awaited  each  and  all  of  them.  Hard 
things,  I  fear,  would  be  said  of  the  good  taste 
of  a  modern  host  who  treated  his  guests  to 


Who  Wants  Religion?      211 

such  an  unwelcome  reminder — unless  indeed, 
so  curious  are  the  workings  of  a  diseased  mind, 
the  thing  should  be  treated  as  a  novel  form  of 
entertainment  for  the  jaded  diners  and  hailed 
with  acclamation  as  an  infinitely  clever  and 
amusing  interlude. 

Well,  these  people  certainly  do  not  want 
religion,  and  they  do  not  want  other  people  to 
want  it  either.  What  are  we  to  do  with  them? 
We  cannot  reason  with  them.  We  cannot  speak 
to  them  of  Christ,  of  their  duty  to  God,  of  their 
duty  to  others.  They  scarcely  understand  what 
you  mean  by  the  divinity  of  Christ,  they  do 
not  acknowledge  the  Almighty,  and  they  have 
no  thought  of  duty  in  any  shape  or  form.  They 
would  stare  at  you  uncomprehendingly  if  you 
were  to  talk  to  them  of  their  immortal  souls. 

They  have  no  thought  and  no  care  for  the 
future,  they  want  no  draft  upon  Heaven,  they 
are  satisfied  with  the  good  things  of  this  life, 
the  luxury  and  pleasure  of  the  moment,  and 
they  will  not  be  bored  by  any  talk  on  a  subject 
which  means  nothing  to  them.  Living  in  a  tainted 
atmosphere,  their  whole  being  has  become 
vitiated.  They  have  accommodated  themselves 
only  too  well  to  the  surroundings  which  they 
have  themselves  helped  to  create,  and  their  ap- 
petite for  the  passing  things  of  time  and  sense 
grows  with  what  it  feeds  upon.  They  will 
thank  you,  in  short,  not  to  disturb  them  at  the 
troughs  from  which  they  swill. 


212  What  of  To-Day  ? 

Well,  they  have  got  to  be  roused  from  their 
miserable  and  animal  existence  sooner  or  later, 
and  we  can  only  pray  that  their  awakening 
may  come  in  this  life  and  not  in  the  next. 
But  from  the  practical  point  of  view  there  is 
one  thing  that  all  of  us,  who  believe  and  know 
that  man  is  something  better  than  a  beast,  can 
do  to  counteract  the  unholy  influence  which 
the  example  of  such  lives  has  on  others.  The 
world  is  full  of  sheep  which  follow  unthink- 
ingly whither  they  see  those  in  front  leading. 
Well,  is  it  not  the -duty  of  such  of  us  who  still 
hold  by  the  truths  of  religion,  who  understand 
how  inalienably  we  belong  to  God  and  how 
absolutely  we  depend  upon  Him,  is  it  not  our 
duty,  I  say,  to  counteract  such  evil  examples 
by  living  up  to  our  own  principles  more  firmly 
and  rigorously?  The  slackness  of  believers  is 
a  shocking  thing  in  this  present  day.  For  how 
can  we  have  the  face  to  protest  against  the 
active  wrong-doers  with  our  tongues,  if  our  own 
lives  do  not  bear  witness  that  our  religious  be- 
liefs are  something  more  than  intellectual?  If 
the  world  to-day  insists  that  it  does  not  want 
religion,  that  it  is  tired  of  the  old  bogies  and 
the  worn-out  superstitions,  and  that  it  means 
to  get  along  without  God  for  the  future,  how 
are  we  to  retort  with  any  effect  unless  we  can 
show  that,  by  holding  fast  to  that  source  of 
strength  which  is  not  of  this  world,  we  are 
veritably  made  better  and  loftier  creatures  than 


Who  Wants  Religion?       213 

those  poor  fools  of  whom  I  have  been  speaking  ? 
A  man  is  judged  by  his  fellow-men,  not  by  his 
words  but  by  his  acts,  not  by  his  professions  of 
goodness  but  by  his  manner  of  living.  And  in 
such  an  age  as  this,  more  than  any  other,  we 
are  called  upon  to  try  to  do  a  little  better  than 
our  best,  to  raise  rather  than  lower  our  moral 
standard.  We  are  accustoming  ourselves,  un- 
happily, to  living  more  softly  and  luxuriously  than 
our  forefathers  did.  We  are  making  concessions 
to  the  weaker  side  of  our  nature  all  along  the 
line.  And  men  and  women  do  things  to-day 
without  a  reproach  which  even  fifty  years  ago 
would  have  stamped  them  as  hardly  fit  associates 
for  decent  people. 

I  do  not  say  that  there  is  anything  actually 
sinful  in  many  modern  fashions,  such  as  the 
craze  for  dining  out  every  evening  at  restaurants, 
and  similar  habits,  in  themselves  apparently 
harmless.  But  the  accumulated  effect  of  many 
of  these  worldly  pleasures  is  bad  directly  for 
ourselves  and  indirectly  for  others.  We  lose 
touch  with  spiritual  things,  we  come  more  and 
more  to  accept  the  standard  of  morality  set  by 
the  world,  till  in  the  end  there  is  nothing  to 
distinguish  us  from  the  crowd  of  flesh-ridden 
worldlings  who  avowedly  care  for  nothing  but 
the  gratification  of  their  lusts,  and  whose  whole 
life  is  an  implicit  denial  of  the  existence  of  God. 

I  am  not  urging  my  fellow-countrymen  to 
go  about  talking  religion  or  trying  to  get  up 


214  What  of  To-Day  ? 

arguments  and  discussions  on  Atheism  or  Ag- 
nosticism or  any  other  queer  "ism"  that  may 
be  in  the  air  just  now.  I  only  ask  them  to 
live  up  to  their  religion,  to  show  by  their  daily 
life  and  conduct  that  the  divinity  of  Christ  is 
something  more  than  a  mere  phrase  for  them, 
and  that  they  refuse  to  conform  to  the  easy- 
going morality  of  a  world  that  is  doing  its  best 
to  forget  the  truth  once  revealed  to  it. 

"  Live  while  you  live,  the  sacred  preacher  cries, 
And  give  to  God  each  moment  as  it  flies; 
Lord,  in  my  life  let  both  united  be, 
I  live  to  pleasure  if  I  live  to  Thee." 

II. — CURRENT  CANT 

THERE  is  a  great  deal  of  what  I  am  very  sorely 
tempted  to  call  affected  ignorance  with  regard 
to  spiritual  matters  abroad  in  the  world  to-day. 
I  am  constantly  meeting  people  who  in  their  own 
estimation  are  very  earnest  inquirers  after  truth. 
They  are  as  busy  as  bees  in  seeking  to  answer 
the  old  conundrum:  "Whence  came  we  and 
whither  do  we  go?'  They  ransack  libraries 
for  old  volumes  of  out- worn  philosophies,  they 
flock  to  hear  the  latest  exponent  of  a  brand- 
new  theory  of  life,  they  wear  out  their  brains 
in  trying  to  discover  the  esoteric  meaning  of 
pagan  myths,  and  in  the  end  they  are  just  as 
wise,  if  a  trifle  more  confused,  than  when  they 
started. 


Who  Wants  Religion?       215 

Is  it  not  odd  that  about  the  only  book  which 
they  are  too  clever  to  consult,  the  only  volume 
which    they   leave    undisturbed    upon    its   shelf, 
is    the    record    of    the    doings   and    sayings    of 
Christ  ?     Of  all  the  religious  teachers  the  world 
has  ever  known,  Christ  is  the  most  definite  and 
the   One   Who   leaves   us  in   least   doubt   as   to 
our  origin  and  destination.     I  can  only  surmise 
that   He   is  too  plain,  too   simple  and  straight- 
forward  to   be    accepted   as   a   satisfying    guide 
by  these  folk.     They  want  something  more  com- 
plex,   something   a    little   more    brain-worrying. 
They  will  not,  in  fact,    "become  as  little  chil- 
dren "  and  be  content  with  a  clear  explanation 
of  what   they   insist   is   a  very  abstruse   puzzle. 
They   have   an   intellect,   it   appears,   and  to   be 
told  in  plain  terms  that   they  come    from  God 
and  that  they  go  to  God,  and  that  their  work 
in   this  world   is   to   fit   them  for   so  great  and 
wonderful   a   destiny,  is   to  insult   that  intellect. 
The    fact   is   such   people   are    not    seeking   the 
truth  at  all.     It  is  not  religion  they  want.     They 
are   playing  with   their   minds,  making   a  game 
of   the    universe,    exercising    their    brains    in    a 
problem  which  for  them  is  a  purely  metaphysical 
one  and  has  no  actual  relation  to  the  practical 
affairs  of  life. 

And  that  is  just  the  difference  between  real 
religion  and  this  dilettante  dabbling  in  all  the 
grotesque  speculations  with  which  man  has  in 
the  past  amused  himself.  Philosophy  is  all  very 


216  What  of  To-Day? 

well  in  its  place,  but  philosophy  can  never  usurp 
the  functions  of  religion.  The  philosopher  is 
a  theorist,  but  the  truly  religious  man  is  the 
most  practical  of  all  men.  He  has  a  very  shrewd 
idea  of  what  he  is  out  for  and  he  means  to 
get  it.  And  ought  not  that  to  be  the  attitude 
of  everyone  who  calls  himself  a  Christian  ?  Yet 
in  a  nominally  Christian  country  like  our  own, 
we  find  a  shockingly  large  number  of  men  who 
still  profess  to  be  doubtful  of  what  their  spiritual 
aim  in  life  should  be. 

"  I  know  whence  I  came  and  whither  I  go," 
said  Our  Lord.  And  any  follower  of  His,  ignor- 
ant though  he  may  be  of  many  things,  must 
at  least,  one  would  think,  realise  that  he  is  not 
ignorant  of  this  important  truth.  How  can  we 
make  any  spiritual  progress  at  all,  indeed,  unless 
we  know  where  we  stand  in  this  regard?  We 
should  be  like  a  ship  that  has  lost  its  rudder, 
drifting  helplessly  hither  and  thither  at  the 
mercy  of  the  waves,  and  that  I  fear  is  the 
position  of  but  too  many  in  the  world  to-day. 

It  is  not  only  too  common  to  hear  nowadays 
-the  complaint,  ''Yes,  but  where  do  I  come  in? 
Who  cares  for  me?  If  I  were  to  slip  out  of 
creation  who  would  miss  me  ?  I  should  be  no 
more  than  the  leaf  off  the  tree,  a  grain  of  sand 
less  from  the  great  shore,  a  mere  bubble,  a 
drop  of  water  sucked  into  the  ocean  again." 
That  is  true  enough  from  the  world's  point  of 
view.  You  and  I  will  not  be  missed,  when  we 


Who  Wants  Religion?       217 

leave  this  earth.  Nobody  is  missed  because  no- 
body is  wanted,  and  there  are  plenty  of  others 
waiting  to  fill  our  places.  But  the  result  of  this 
mental  attitude  is  a  sort  of  despairing  feeling 
that  we  are  of  no  use  to  the  world  and  that 
the  world  is  of  no  use  to  us.  And  that  is  why 
we  are  so  constantly  hearing  of  suicides  for  the 
most  trivial  of  reasons.  Men  are  trying  to  get 
something  out  of  this  world  which  God  has  not 
put  into  it,  and  when  they  fail,  they  get  dis- 
heartened, or  rebellious,  and  they  say,  u  Better 
to  end  it  all.  Things  can't  be  worse  than  they 
are  here,  no  matter  where  I  go." 

That  is  want  of  religion,  want  of  Christianity. 
A  Christian  possesses  at  least  this  one  great 
certainty — that  he  came  from  God  and  that  he 
will  return  to  God.  He  can  hold  fast  to  that 
certainty,  however  things  go  with  him.  Such 
a  faith  has  no  place  for  despair,  and  if  that 
faith  had  a  little  more  prominence  given  to  it 
in  these  days  than  is  unhappily  the  case,  what 
a  far  finer  and  altogether  happier  place  to  live 
in  this  world  would  be. 

What  does  all  the  current  cant  that  is  in- 
dulged in  concerning  the  shackles  of  religion, 
the  fetters  of  superstition  and  the  rest  of  it 
really  amount  to  ?  The  man  who  has  got  rid  of 
his  religion— or  thinks  he  has — talks  proudly  of 
his  liberty  of  thought,  of  his  independence,  of 
his  freedom  from  the  tyranny  of  a  dogmatic 
priesthood.  Never,  he  will  tell  you,  has  he  felt 


2i8  What  of  To-Day? 

himself  so  much  a  man  as  since  he  has  re- 
nounced the  foolish  teachings  of  his  childhood. 
But  what  is  it  he  has  really  attained  ?  Instead 
of  the  spiritual  liberty  which  was  to  be  his  des- 
tiny, he  has  set  up  as  his  ideal  the  licence 
allowed  the  beasts  of  the  field,  who  live  accord- 
ing to  their  nature.  The  man  without  religion 
boasts  that  he  too  will  live  "  according  to  his 
nature."  But  he  lies  when  he  makes  that  boast. 
He  does  not  live  according  to  his  true  nature. 
For  man  is  not  merely  an  animal.  He  has  a 
higher  and  a  lower  nature,  and  the  kind  of  person 
who  gives  the  go-by  to  religion  is  deliberately 
developing  his  lower  nature  and  neglecting  the 
higher  and  spiritual  side. 

Let  us  import  a  little  common  sense  into 
this  question.  Even  the  most  materially  minded 
will  acknowledge  that  a  man  who  does  not 
exercise  his  muscles  will  soon  degenerate  into 
a  flabby  mass  of  flesh  unfit  even  to  take  his 
place  among  the  animals.  If  anyone  wants 
a  useful  body,  he  must  take  care  of  it.  If 
he  wants  to  be  healthy,  he  must  obey  the 
rules  of  health.  If  he  wants  to  possess  a  sound 
thinking-machine  he  must  exercise  his  brain. 
And  similarly,  if  he  wants  to  grow  in  spirituality, 
to  become,  in  other  words,  something  more  than 
a  thinking  animal,  he  must  cultivate  that  part 
of  him  which  is  spiritual.  "That  is  all  very 
well,"  the  man  who  is  trying  to  do  without 
religion  will  say,  "but  if  I  am  to  cultivate  my 


Who  Wants  Religion?       219 

spiritual  nature,  I  don't  see  why  I  shouldn't  do 
it  in  my  own  way.  For  one  thing,  my  way  is 
a  much  more  pleasant  way  than  yours.  I  don't 
hamper  myself  with  any  uncomfortable  restric- 
tions. I  give  fair  play  to  every  side  of  me.  I 
don't  believe  everything  I  am  told,  and  I  cer- 
tainly don't  intend  to  put  my  intellect  into 
bonds  to  please  any  man." 

Just  so.  Yet,  to  take  what  seems  to  me  a 
very  good  analogy,  what  would  be  thought  of 
a  youth,  just  entering  the  Navy,  whose  first 
proceeding  should  be  to  object  to  the  discipline 
and  regulations  of  the  service  ?  He  might 
make  out  a  very  fair  case  for  refusing  to  do 
this  or  that  particular  duty  which  was  demanded 
of  him.  He  might  object  to  salute  his  superior 
officer  on  the  ground  that  to  do  so  could  not 
possibly  make  him  any  more  efficient  in  the 
knowledge  of  how  to  handle  a  ship  or  a  fleet 
in  the  face  of  the  enemy.  And,  on  purely 
theoretical  grounds,  he  might  be  right.  But 
one  thing  is  certain — he  would  be  of  no  use 
whatever  to  the  Navy. 

I  sometimes  think  we  are  like  a  lot  of  naughty 
school  children  who  think  it  a  fine  thing  to  break 
the  rules  of  their  school  and  who  imagine  that, 
by  defying  authority,  they  are  showing  their 
independence  and  proving  their  freedom.  A 
good  caning  is  generally  the  end  of  such 
little  outbursts,  and  if  in  the  world-school  our 
follies  and  rebellion  against  our  Teacher  are  left 


220  What  of  To-Day? 

unrebuked  for  a  time,  is  not  that  merely  because 
His  patience  is  inexhaustible  and  He  wishes  us 
to  turn  to  Him  for  help  of  our  own  free  will? 
The  fact  is  that  the  spirit  of  the  world  is  as 
pagan  to-day  as  ever  it  was.  In  one  way  or 
another,  however  clearly  disguised,  the  world  is 
still  trying  to  do  without  God,  without  religion, 
without  spirituality.  Our  impatience  of  disci- 
pline, our  impatience  of  self-restraint,  our  im- 
patience of  all  authority  are  merely  symptoms  of 
our  refusal  to  acknowledge  God.  We  will  have 
no  master  set  over  us,  either  here  or  hereafter. 
In  our  own  conceit,  we  will  be  free,  lords  of 
the  universe  and  monarchs  of  creation,  and  the 
only  reason  why  men  are  trying  more  and  more 
to  get  away  from  religion,  from  Christianity,  is 
because  they  wish  to  escape  the  restraint  which 
religion  asks  them,  in  the  Name  of  their  Creator, 
to  place  upon  themselves  and  their  senses. 

III. — SPIRITUAL  SNACKS 

TOUCHING  this  matter  of  religion,  I  should 
be  sorry  to  give  anyone  the  impression  that  I 
believe  most  people  to  be  either  irreligious  or 
non  -  religious.  On  the  contrary,*  I  think  the 
majority  of  mankind  do,  in  some  sort,  realise 
the  necessity  of  religion.  The  trouble  is  that 
they  do  not  actually  want  it  with  their  whole 
heart  and  soul,  as  they  want,  for  instance,  the 
good  things  of  this  world.  They  have  always 
time  to  spare  for  the  business  that  will  bring 


Who  Wants  Religion?       221 

them  money,  or  the  pleasure  that  will  help  them 
to  an  exciting  hour.  But  they  cannot  work  up 
any  enthusiasm  over  religion,  and  if  in  the  rush 
and  hurry  of  modern  life  something  has  to  be 
put  aside  or  go  to  the  wall  altogether,  you  will 
find  that,  in  most  cases,  it  is  religion  that  suffers. 

To  such  people  their  religion  is  so  mixed  up 
with  Sunday  that  they  have  little  time  for  it 
during  the  week.  And  the  man  who  punc- 
tiliously observes  his  Sunday  duties,  while  his 
neighbours  are  openly  and  flagrantly  ignoring 
theirs,  is  apt  to  plume  himself  on  being  rather  a 
fine  fellow,  spiritually,  and  would  certainly  feel 
extremely  hurt  and  astonished  if  he  were  told 
that  his  soul  is  starving  for  want  of  the  daily 
nourishment  which  he  refuses  it. 

For  religion  ought  to  be  the  first  considera- 
tion, not  the  last,  in  the  lives  of  all  of  us.  How 
can  it  be  possible  for  men  who  pay  lip-service  to 
their  Creator,  who  acknowledge  the  claims  of 
Christ,  to  relegate  God  to  a  back  seat  in  their 
souls,  where  they  can  pay  Him  a  careless  visit 
once  a  week,  forgetting  all  about  His  existence 
during  the  interval? 

People  of  this  sort  take  their  religion  as  a 
sort  of  hors  d'ceuvre  to  the  more  serious  business 
of  the  week.  They  like  it  in  the  form  of  a  few 
spiritual  snacks  thrown  to  them,  so  to  speak, 
across  the  counter.  There  are  people  who  re- 
gard it  as  a  sort  of  disagreeable  necessity,  inex- 
tricably bound  up  with  church-going,  a  kind  of 


222  What  of  To-Day? 

medicine  to  be  swallowed  in  homoeopathic  doses, 
so  that  they  hardly  know  whether  they  have  had 
it  or  not.  And  there  are  some  people,  again, 
who  cannot  say  their  prayers  till  they  have  got 
their  morocco  -  bound  prayer-books  with  them, 
and  who  can  only  pray  in  one  church  and  in 
one  seat.  What  life,  what  virility  can  there  be 
in  such  mechanical  religion  as  that  ?  If  we  really 
wanted  religion,  if  we  were  steeped  in  it  and 
saturated  with  it,  it  would  be  to  us  as  the  very 
foundation  of  our  life,  its  centre  of  gravity,  its 
source  of  strength  and  health  and  beauty.  If 
we  had  got  hold  of  the  true  spirit  of  religion, 
we  should  not  be  content  with  a  perfunctory 
once-a-week  acknowledgment  of  its  claims.  It 
would  inspire  us  daily,  hourly,  in  every  action 
of  our  lives. 

I  notice  that  the  power  of  prayer  is  not  so 
derided  to-day  as  it  was  thirty  years  ago.  When 
the  leaders  of  materialism  were  at  the  height 
of  their  fame,  they  laid  it  down  dogmatically 
that,  while  prayer  might  bring  some  sort  of 
subjective  consolation  to  the  weak-minded,  it 
could  not  effect  anything  of  itself.  Well,  even 
science  has  shifted  its  position  since  those  days, 
and  the  power  of  prayer  as  a  real  force,  quite 
apart  from  its  religious  significance,  is  now 
coming  to  be  recognised  more  and  more.  This 
recognition  of  the  value  of  prayer  masquerades, 
it  is  true,  under  many  quaint  forms,  but  it  is 
something  to  have  it  recognised  at  all. 


Who  Wants  Religion?       223 

But  here  again  one  must  be  on  one's  guard 
against  the  delusion  that  to  gabble  a  certain 
form  of  words,  without  thinking  of  their  meaning 
or  without  any  intention  of  praying,  is  prayer 
in  the  real  sense  of  the  term.  Prayer  is  one  of 
the  greatest  forces  in  the  world,  but  it  must  be 
the  genuine  article.  Substitutes  and  imitations 
are  no  good. 

Those  people,  therefore,  who  fancy  they  are 
doing  excellently  from  the  religious  point  of 
view,  because  they  go  down  on  their  knees 
every  morning  and  evening  and  say  their  prayers, 
would  be  well  advised  to  look  into  the  matter 
a  little  more  closely.  And  if  they  are  honest 
with  themselves,  they  may  be  surprised  to  find 
how  much  time  they  waste  in  prayer  which  is 
not  prayer  at  all.  The  spending  of  long  hours 
in  prayer  is  not  in  itself  any  proof  of  piety.  In 
such  cases  I  want  to  see  the  fruit  of  prayer. 
Are  such  people  less  critical  of  their  neigh- 
bours ?  Are  they  more  generous  in  their  views  ? 
Are  they  more  conscientious  about  paying 
their  bills  ?  Are  they  living  up  to  the  spirit  of 
religion  ? 

If  not,  they  may  have  spent  a  long  time  in 
church,  but  they  have  not  been  long  at  prayer. 
You  have  to  translate  prayer  into  self-conquest, 
self-reverence,  self-determination,  to  be  just  and 
kind  and  generous  to  your  neighbour.  That  is 
the  kind  of  religion  we  want  in  the  world.  It 
is  not  the  hours  spent  on  your  knees,  not  the 


224  What  of  To-Day? 

number  of  hymns  sung,  not  the  amount  of 
Sunday  clothes  in  your  wardrobe  that  counts,  but 
the  amount  of  fine  Christian  example  that  you 
give,  built  on  the  lines  laid  down  by  Christ, 
studied  at  the  foot  of  the  Cross.  The  man  who 
is  true  to  his  religion  will  not  be  found  want- 
ing in  his  duty  towards  his  king  and  his  coun- 
try, or  towards  all  those  with  whom  he  comes 
into  contact  in  the  daily  course  of  his  business. 
I  desire  to  see  not  only  the  non-religious  and 
the  irreligious  and  the  indifferent  turning  again 
towards  Christ,  but  I  also  wish  to  see  those 
who  are  still  outwardly  steadfast  showing  more 
enthusiasm,  more  grit,  in  the  practice  of  religion. 
Nowadays,  men  seem  to  be  afraid  of  standing 
erect  on  their  feet  and  stiffening  their  backs 
and  fighting  for  all  they  are  worth  for  what 
they  believe  to  be  true.  And  it  is  just  because 
we  are  so  back-boneless,  so  half-hearted  in  reli- 
gion that  we  are  getting  so  soft  and  flabby  in 
all  the  affairs  of  our  daily  life.  How  many 
men,  I  wonder,  are  there  in  this  country  who 
will  let  their  religion  interfere  with  their  busi- 
ness !  Why,  the  wise  men  of  the  world  have 
even  invented  a  special  code  of  morals  to  be 
applied  to  business  transactions,  so  that  a  man 
who  looks  upon  himself  as  the  soul  of  honour 
outside  his  office,  will  not  hesitate  to  stoop  to 
incredibly  mean  and  sordid  trickery  where  a 
business  deal  is  concerned.  Oh,  the  pity 
of  it ! 


Who  Wants  Religion?       225 

That  is  where  religion  comes  in,  and  that  is 
where  you  will  find  the  difference  between  the 
man  who  is  genuinely  religious  and  the  man 
for  whom  religion  means  little  more  than  a 
Sunday  church-parade.  It  all  comes  back  to 
the  old  question  of  doing  one's  duty,  whether 
to  God  or  to  one's  neighbour  or  to  oneself. 
The  man  who  acts  up  to  the  spirit  of  religion, 
who  follows  Christ  in  his  heart  as  well  as  in 
outward  seeming,  is  the  sort  of  man  who  can 
be  trusted  inside  his  office  as  well  as  outside 
of  it. 

That  is  the  sort  of  man  we  want  in  England 
and  in  the  Empire  to-day — the  man  who  puts 
religion  first  and  allows  no  comfortable  con- 
ventions to  interfere  with  what  his  conscience 
tells  him  is  the  right  thing  to  do.  But  where 
are  we  to  find  such  men  ?  One  does  not  wish 
to  exaggerate,  but  the  humiliating  truth  is  that 
most  men  are  so  little  proud  of  their  religion 
that  they  take  every  opportunity  of  putting  it 
on  one  side  or  of  endeavouring  to  lock  it  up 
in  a  water-tight  compartment  all  to  itself. 

We  are  constantly  being  adjured  as  a  nation 
to  "wake  up."  In  all  directions,  we  are  told, 
England  is  being  overtaken  and  outstripped  by 
her  competitors,  that  we  are  growing  careless 
and  lazy,  and  that  we  are  fast  becoming  the 
laughing-stock  of  the  world  for  our  slackness 
and  inefficiency.  That  there  is  a  certain  mea- 
sure of  truth  in  these  allegations  I  will  not  take 

p 


226  What  of  To-Day? 

it  upon  myself  to  deny,  but  I  cannot  sec  that 
the  schemes  proposed  to  remedy  this  state  of 
things  are  much  to  the  purpose.  For,  to  tell 
the  truth,  they  are  mostly  superficial ;  they  deal 
with  effects  when  they  should  be  going  to  the 
root  of  the  evil  ;  they  are  trying  to  allay  the 
symptoms  without  getting  at  the  cause  of  the 
disease. 

What  our  country  needs  is  more  religion, 
and  the  only  way,  seemingly,  it  can  get  more 
religion  is  by  teaching  its  children  what  religion 
means.  We  talk  a  great  deal  about  duty  and 
patriotism  and  self-sacrifice  and  the  beauty  of 
citizenship,  and  we  have  laid  in  quite  a  stock 
of  fine  phrases  which  are  trotted  out  in  the 
Press  on  every  possible  and  impossible  occasion. 
But  what  do  these  things  signify,  what  mean- 
ing can  they  convey  to  those  who  have  never 
been  taught  that  the  duty  we  owe  to  our  fellows 
rests  on  a  deeper  and  firmer  foundation  than 
the  mere  preservation  of  a  society  on  strictly 
utilitarian  grounds?  Not  unnaturally,  the  citizen 
who  is  told  that  he  owes  a  duty  to  the  State  is 
apt  to  be  inconveniently  curious  concerning  the 
nature  and  origin  of  his  obligation.  And  when 
he  finds  that  it  apparently  springs  from  some 
presumed  social  contract  between  himself  and 
the  rest  of  the  community,  can  we  wonder  that 
he  takes  a  far  keener  interest  in  the  debt  which 
the  State  owes  him  than  in  his  own  duty  to- 
wards the  State? 


Who  Wants  Religion?       227 

I  am,  myself,  among  those  who  condemn 
this  latter-day  insistence  on  personal  "rights" 
and  "privileges"  to  the  neglect  of  correspond- 
ing duties  and  obligations.  But  I  recognise — 
and  I  think  it  is  high  time  that  we  all  should 
recognise — that  if  you  'attempt  to  run  a  State 
without  religion,  if  you  base  your  demands  from 
your  neighbour  on  purely  human  and  utilitarian 
grounds,  you  are  building  on  a  shifting  and  a 
sandy  soil,  which  can  never  stand  the  weight 
you  are  putting  on  it.  And  tinkering  with  the 
structure  will  never  make  the  foundation  more 
secure. 

The  wise  man  builds  his  house  upon  a  rock, 
and  it  is  upon  the  rock  of  religion  that  our 
modern  society  needs  to  be  rebuilt,  if  it  is 
to  stand  firm  and  four-square  against  the 
gathering  forces  of  disruption  and  disunion. 


XXI 

"THE  SIMPLE  LIFE  FOR  ME" 

SOCIETY  has  got  a  new  craze,  new  in  form,  that  is 
to  say,  but  not  in  substance.  For  the  return 
to  the  Simple  Life,  which  is  what  Society  just 
now  believes  it  is  craving  for,  is  a  fancy  or 
whim  common  to  most  ages  in  which  an  over- 
dose of  pleasure  has  bred  ennui,  and  a  surfeit 
of  luxury  has  produced  a  temporary  reaction. 

Of  course,  there  are  different  forms  of  the 
Simple  Life.  The  millionaire,  for  example, 
could  hardly  be  expected  to  enjoy,  even  for  a 
week,  the  simplicity  of  life  as  lived  by  the  farm 
labourer ;  and  the  pampered  Society  woman 
would  not  be  likely  to  take  kindly  to  the  hard- 
working existence  of  the  village  house-wife  who 
has  to  keep  her  home  clean,  look  after  half-a- 
dozen  active  youngsters,  cook  meals  for  the 
whole  family,  and  provide  them  with  sufficient 
food  and  clothing  on  a  few  shillings  a  week. 

No,  Society  is  not  in  search  of  such  rude 
simplicity  as  that.  To  lead  the  Simple  Life  as 
Society  understands  it  requires  in  the  first 
place  quite  a  respectable  amount  of  money.  It 
is  not,  in  fact,  a  poor  man's  recreation.  To 

228 


"The  Simple  Life  for  Me"  229 

start  with,  one  must  buy  a  caravan  or  cottage, 
the  initial  expense  of  which  counts  for  nothing 
in  comparison  with  the  sum  that  has  then  to 
be  spent  upon  them  to  make  them  habitable. 
For  this  particular  form  of  the  Simple  Life  in 
reality  is  nothing  but  a  variant  of  the  vapid, 
useless,  and  luxurious  existence  which  is  common 
to  so  many  mansions  in  Mayfair  at  the  present 
day.  The  Simple  Life,  in  short,  is  the  Life  of 
Pleasure  transplanted  from  the  town  to  the 
country ;  and  the  craze  for  it  is  nothing  but 
another  form  of  that  craving  for  new  emotions 
of  any  kind,  characteristic  of  our  plutocratic 
generation.  With  the  coming  of  the  motor-car 
the  week-end  habit  was  enormously  extended, 
and  from  that  habit,  in  a  large  measure,  has 
been  evolved  this  fantastic  desire  for  an  arti- 
ficial and  extremely  unprimitive  simplicity  of 
life. 

When,  I  wonder,  will  such  people  realise 
that  the  Simple  Life  is  not  a  matter  of  living 
in  the  town  or  the  country,  in  a  palace  or  a 
hovel,  in  an  office,  or  a  farm-house  ;  but  rather 
that  it  is  a  question  of  the  inner  spiritual  exist- 
ence of  a  man.  In  this,  as  in  almost  everything 
else,  we  see  the  symptoms  of  that  hopeless 
materialism  which,  like  a  canker,  is  eating  its 
way  so  terribly  into  the  national  vitals.  It 
is  pathetic  to  watch  the  efforts  of  men  and 
women,  worn  out  and  wearied  with  their  round 
of  joyless  pleasure,  to  escape  from  their  unhappy 


What  of  To-Day? 

existence  ;  still  more  pathetic  is  it  that  these 
blas6  voluptuaries  should  fancy  that  by  changing 
their  surroundings  they  can  escape  from  them- 
selves and  their  own  shrivelled  souls. 

Yet  even  the  most  materially-minded  of  us 
can,  if  we  like,  lead  a  stern  and  simple  life 
amid  the  most  profuse  luxury.  Marcus  Aurelius 
found  it  possible  amid  all  the  splendours  of  the 
Imperial  Court  of  Rome.  And  what  the  pagan 
sceptic  of  old  could  do,  cannot  a  modern 
Englishman  contrive  to  accomplish  ?  But  then 
the  Roman  Emperor  had  his  ideal,  such  as  it 
was,  which  he  tried  to  live  up  to,  and  nowadays 
many  of  us  have  not  even  that. 

The  truth  is,  that  the  Simple  Life  is,  in 
reality,  nothing  but  the  Christian  Life — the  life 
lived  by  the  man  who  is  honestly  and  sincerely 
endeavouring  to  do  his  duty  according  to  the 
Christian  standard  of  ethics.  Such  a  man  will 
have  no  feverish  desires  after  extremes.  His 
whole  life  will  be  simple,  in  whatever  circum- 
stances he  may  be  placed ;  he  will  not  be 
continually  running  to  and  fro,  seeking  distrac- 
tions in  a  hundred  ways,  and  finding  unhappiness 
in  all,  but  with  a  single  mind  and  a  single 
purpose  he  will  steadfastly  pursue  his  course  to 
the  goal  which  every  man  is  meant  to  reach. 

Men  taste  all  the  pleasures  of  the  world  and 
find  them,  as  Solomon  found  them,  nothing  but 
vanity ;  and  in  despair  they  turn  to  new  and 
paradoxical  methods  of  satisfying  their  unsatisfied 


The  Simple  Life  for  Me"  231 

spirit.  When  will  they  learn  that  lesson  which 
even  the  world  itself  teaches  them,  that  there  is 
not  and  cannot  be  any  rest  or  lasting  happiness 
in  this  restless  pursuit  of  earthly  things  ?  What 
is  all  this  talk  of  the  Simple  Life  save  a  con- 
fession that  the  lives  people  are  leading  are  too 
complex,  too  much  entangled  with  pursuits 
that  are  not  germane  to  the  end  for  which  they 
were  destined,  too  bound  by  chains  which, 
forged  by  themselves,  can  be,  if  they  will  only 
realise  it,  readily  struck  off  by  themselves? 

I  am  not  pleading  just  now  with  these 
people  to  lead  a  saintly  life.  I  merely  ask 
them  to  begin  by  leading  an  ordinary  Christian 
life.  Not  necessarily  to  give  up  their  Mayfair 
residence  or  their  costly  cottage  in  the  country, 
or  their  motor-car,  but  to  regard  these  things 
from  a  different  standpoint,  to  use  them  in  a 
different  spirit.  There  is  a  great  deal  of  truth 
in  the  old  saying  concerning  the  burden  of 
riches.  The  rich  man  ought  to  feel  that  he 
bears  a  burden,  for,  in  sober  fact,  he  has  a  tre- 
mendous responsibility  placed  upon  his  shoulders. 
Yet  the  moment  he  recognises  that  responsibility 
and  faces  it  squarely  and  accepts  it,  in  that 
moment  his  burden  will  be  immeasurably  light- 
ened. 

"Come  to  Me,"  said  Christ,  uall  ye  that 
labour  and  are  burdened,  and  I  will  refresh 
you."  It  was  not  only  to  the  poor  and  sorrow- 
ing that  this  invitation  was  addressed.  It  was 


232  What  of  To-Day? 

meant  equally  for  those  who,  having  all  they 
can  desire  in  this  world,  think  there  can  be 
nothing  else  worth  living  for  than  the  gratifica- 
tion of  their  own  selfish  whims  and  passions. 

Assuredly  the  Simple  Life  is  the  one  life  to 
which  such  people  should  turn — the  life,  that  is 
to  say,  lived  in  accordance  with  the  precepts  of 
Christ.  It  is,  perhaps,  a  sign  of  grace  that  they 
should,  however  vaguely,  recognise  that  their 
existence  is  over-full  of  pleasure,  that  they  should, 
in  however  feeble  a  fashion,  endeavour  to  get 
away  from  their  vicious  round  of  excitement 
and  extravagance ;  but  they  may  rest  assured  that 
the  mere  turning  from  one  style  of  worldly  life 
to  another  will  not  serve  them.  But  let  them 
try  the  Christian  Life,  and  I  will  guarantee  to 
cure  them  of  all  their  boredom  and  weariness 
of  spirit. 

There  is  another  aspect  of  this  Simple  Life 
craze  which  I  feel  constrained  to  touch  on  here. 
There  are  certain  people,  by  no  means  confined 
to  one  class,  who  have  persuaded  themselves,  or 
who  wish  to  persuade  themselves,  that  the  beasts 
of  the  field  are  the  proper  examples  for  rational 
human  beings  to  follow.  In  other  words,  they 
would  free  life  of  its  complexities  by  freeing  it 
of  all  moral  obligations.  They  will  have  no 
constraint,  religious  or  social,  put  upon  their 
desires,  and  in  their  anxiety  to  give  free  rein 
to  the  lower  side  of  their  nature,  pose  as  the 
pioneers  of  a  coming  era  when  a  crafty  priest- 


"The  Simple  Life  for  Me"  233 

hood  shall  no  longer  have  power  to  impose 
its  will  upon  the  imagination,  or  work  upon  the 
fears,  of  mankind. 

We  might  dismiss  such  people,  without  much 
notice,  as  mere  faddists,  capable  of  doing  little 
harm,  were  it  not  for  the  horrible  doctrines  of 
free  love  and  immorality  which  they  preach  to 
a  public  not  yet,  thank  Heaven,  quite  so  gullible 
as  to  swallow  them  entire.  But  so  artfully  is 
the  poison  instilled,  so  carefully  presented  amid 
much  that  is  harmless,  that  I  fear  many  may  be 
deceived  by  these  specious  advocates  of  abomin- 
able things. 

They  like  to  look  upon  themselves  as  ad- 
vanced, but  in  truth  their  only  idea  of  progress 
is  to  go  backward,  to  put  themselves  on  a  level 
with  the  savage,  and,  under  the  pretence  of 
remedying  the  errors,  and  simplifying  the  com- 
plexities, of  civilisation,  to  return  to  the  dark 
days  of  the  pre-Christian  era,  when  men  had  no 
thought  but  to  gratify  their  passions,  and  no 
higher  ideal  than  to  make  the  most  of  their  lives 
in  this  world. 

"Let  us  return  to  Nature."  That  is  the  cry 
we  hear  raised  to-day.  "Nature,"  we  are 
told,  "knows  no  conventions,  no  soul-cramping 
limitations;  Nature  is  free,  as  man  should  be. 
It  is  the  priests  who,  for  their  own  ends,  have 
so  fettered  and  bound  him  by  their  rules  and 
regulations  that  he  dare  no  longer  call  his  soul 
his  own." 


234  What  of  To-Day? 

No  thinking  man,  I  admit,  could  possibly 
be  taken  in  by  an  argument  that  implied  he 
was  no  better  than  an  animal,  but  there  are 
many  amongst  us,  ignorant  and  empty-headed, 
who  may  easily  be  deceived  even  by  such  trans- 
parent fallacies.  I  do  not  wish  to  exaggerate 
the  power  of  such  preaching.  But  I  recognise 
a  real  danger  in  it,  and  I  have  therefore  thought 
it  a  duty  to  raise  my  voice  against  this  latest 
horrible  and  subtle  plea  for  the  leading  of  an 
immoral  life. 


XXII 

MARRIAGE 
I. — WEDDED    LOVE 

IT  would  be  a  waste  of  time  to  insist  on  the 
Christian  and  sacred  character  of  marriage  as 
regards  men  with  whom  Christians  have  nothing 
in  common  either  in  religion  or  philosophy. 
But  living  as  I  do  in  a  Christian  country,  is  it 
altogether  presumptuous  on  my  part  to  hope  that 
my  fellow-countrymen,  in  the  mass,  still  accept, 
at  least  in  theory,  the  Christian  standard  of  life 
and  its  duties?  The  professed  atheist,  like  the 
professed  pagan,  may  regulate  his  conduct  by  rules 
that  are  based  on  no  higher  conception  of  ethics 
than  such  as  appeal  to  him  personally  as  logically 
necessary  for  the  preservation  of  society,  but 
the  believing  Christian  must  surely  acknowledge 
a  firmer  foundation  for  his  system  of  morality. 

The  claims  of  the  materialist  to  be  more 
practical  than  the  Christian  would  be  amusing 
were  it  not  for  the  grave  issues  involved.  For, 
in  point  of  fact,  the  Christian  has,  or  should 
have,  no  haziness  as  regards  his  future  existence. 
From  God  he  comes  and  to  God  he  must 
return.  There  is,  in  reality,  no  "riddle  of  the 
universe";  and  the  real  problem  for  us  to 

235 


236  What  of  To-Day? 

solve  is  not  concerned  with  our  "whence"  or 
"whither,"  but  with  our  "here"  and  "now." 

What,  then,  is  the  mission  of  man  on  this 
earth?  It  is  not  to  waltz — I  had  almost  written 
tango — through  life  in  a  continuous  round  of 
pleasure  and  careless  ease.  It  is  not  to  say, 
'Let  us  eat  and  drink  and  be  merry,  for  to- 
morrow we  die."  It  is  not  to  plunge  into 
sensuality  and  gratify  the  lowest  desires  and 
cravings  of  the  flesh,  until  the  conscience  is 
seared  and  unresponsive,  the  mind  depraved, 
the  body  ruined,  and  the  soul  lost. 

It  is  not  to  concentrate  every  energy  upon 
the  building  up  of  a  fortune,  to  rack  the  brain, 
spoil  the  temper,  and  choke  up  the  avenues  to 
the  soul  with  the  sordid  growths  of  greed  and 
avarice. 

The  mission  of  man,  "so  noble  in  reason, 
so  infinite  in  faculty,  in  apprehension  so  like 
God,"  is  to  work  out  the  beast  and  savage, 
and  so  to  evolve  the  higher  and  spiritual  side 
of  his  nature  that  he  may  be  fit  to  take  his  place 
hereafter  in  one  of  those  "many  mansions"  in 
which  it  should  be  his  sure  and  certain  hope  one 
day  to  dwell. 

For  the  evolution  and  attainment  of  the  great 
ideal  of  manhood  and  womanhood  which  the 
Christian  religion  places  before  us,  marriage  is,  for 
the  generality  of  men,  the  safest  and  surest  means. 
Properly  used,  there  is  no  better  school  in  which 
to  learn  self-reverence,  self-mastery,  self-control ; 


Marriage  237 

no  finer  discipline  through  which  to  rise  more 
surely  in  the  spiritual  life  than  a  Christian  mar- 
riage. There  are  those,  it  is  true,  who  are  called 
to  an  even  higher  state,  but  such  are  exceptions 
to  the  general  rule,  and  what  I  have  to  say  on  this 
subject  is  addressed  to  the  ordinary  man — "the 
man  in  the  street." 

Have  we  not  been  assured  that  there  is  no 
more  subtle  master  under  Heaven,  not  only  to 
keep  down  the  lower  desires  of  our  nature,  but 
to  fill  the  mind  with  great  thoughts  and  the  heart 
with  beauteous  aspirations,  than  the  "maiden 
passion  for  a  maid"?  The  sweet  chastity  of 
maidenhood  is  the  source  of  the  strong  courage 
of  manhood.  The  man  who  can  write,  'I 
have  become  engaged  to  a  girl,"  can  add, 
1 '  and  I  am  learning  to  strive  after  the  highest 
and  to  seek  the  best." 

But  this  noble  result  will  follow  only  from 
the  love  that  is  pure,  not  from  the  mad  infatu- 
ation of  passion.  To  be  what  is  commonly 
called  ' '  madly  in  love  "  is  no  test  of  the  reality 
of  love.  Indeed  the  very  intensity  of  such  an 
emotion  indicates  rather  the  presence  of  passion 
alone,  than  which  there  is  no  traitor  more 
cunning  or  cruel.  One  fierce  outburst  may  leave 
behind  a  sting  the  pang  of  which  will  be  felt 
for  a  lifetime,  and  the  shame  be  irremediable. 
It  is  the  privilege  of  woman  to  act  from  feeling, 
it  is  the  duty  of  man  to  ignore  feeling  and  follow 
reason. 


238  What  of  To-Day  ? 

When  a  young  man  sayi  he  is  in  ecstasies, 
he  is  not  far  from  hysteria.  Ecstasy  and  hysteria 
are  both  abnormal  conditions,  and,  if  he  is  in 
either,  a  man  is  in  no  state  of  mind  to  become 
engaged.  Such  aids  to  marriage  as  moonlight 
strolls,  dreamy  music,  or  worse  still,  rowdy 
companionship,  ought  to  play  no  part  in  a 
man's  final  choice.  Indeed,  no  self-respecting 
man  could  really  be  guilty  of  the  error  of 
becoming  engaged  without  sane  and  sober  con- 
sideration. I  shall  be  told  that  love  is  a  passion 
that  so  sweeps  a  man  off  his  feet  that  his  will 
and  his  reason  are  for  the  moment  utterly  over- 
whelmed— that  he  is,  in  a  word,  not  responsible 
for  his  actions  at  such  a  time. 

But  that  is  precisely  what  I  deny.  If  a 
man  loves  truly,  he  loves  with  his  whole  self, 
with  his  soul,  his  will  and  his  reason  as  well  as 
his  body.  I  have  no  patience  with  those  fanatics 
(unhappily  they  seem  to  be  increasing  in  num- 
ber) who  are  for  ever  talking  about  their 
"soul-mates,"  their  "spiritual  comrades"  and 
so  forth,  but  there  is  at  least  this  to  be  said  for 
them,  that  they  represent,  however  partially,  a 
certain  revolt  against  the  purely  physical  side 
of  love,  beyond  which  many  men  seem  unable 
to  progress. 

I  would  lay  it  down,  then,  as  an  infallible 
rule  that,  if  a  young  man  finds  himself  so  carried 
away  by  his  feelings  that  he  is  unable  to  con- 
sider calmly  the  consequences  of  his  marriage, 


Marriage  259 

he  may  be  sure  that  it  is  passion,  and  net  love, 
which  is  dominating  him.  And,  whatever  popu- 
lar novelists  may  preach,  it  is  equally  certain 
that  every  man  has  the  strength  of  will,  if  he 
chooses  to  exercise  it,  to  throw  off  such  an  ob- 
session. Above  all  things,  be  it  remembered, 
it  is  the  function  of  love  to  give  rather  than  to 
get ;  to  find  joy  in  bestowing,  rather  than  to 
take  pleasure  in  receiving. 

There  would  be  fewer  unhappy  marriages  if 
men  would  but  ask  themselves,  before  taking 
the  preliminary  step,  for  what  purpose  they  are 
entering  the  married  state.  Ought  not  one  to 
enter  it  in  order  to  realise  oneself,  to  become  a 
deeper  and  a  truer  man,  to  fulfil  a  God-given 
mission  in  time,  and  to  reap  a  God-given  re- 
ward in  eternity?  To  be,  moreover,  the  bright- 
ness and  stay  of  some  good  woman's  life,  and, 
as  far  as  in  one  lies,  to  lift  her  on  to  a  plane  of 
holy  and  happy  living  ? 

Let  a  man  then  make  his  choice  in  the  light 
of  these  considerations.  Let  him  raise  his  mind 
from  mere  prettiness  and  shallow  sentimentality 
to  thoughts  of  higher  and  more  enduring  things. 
To  every  young  man  contemplating  marriage  I 
would  earnestly  say:  Choose  not  the  flighty, 
showy,  smoking-room  girl,  however  superficially 
attractive  or  dazzling.  Choose  a  girl  in  whom 
the  virtues  flourish,  one  in  whom  you  will  find 
not  a  little  to  venerate  and  reverence.  Seek  a 
comrade  rather  than  a  charmer.  So  will  your 


240  What  of  To-Day  ? 

affection  continue  to  grow  until  the  end,  and 
prove  to  be,  not  a  lurid,  fierce  flame  of  passion, 
but  a  sun-glow  of  life-long  duration,  shedding 
the  light  of  love  and  the  warmth  of  joy  abroad 
from  both  your  hearts. 

Old-fashioned  advice,  do  you  think?  I  admit 
it  is  not  up-to-date.  But  are  all  old  things 
necessarily  wrong,  and  is  every  new  idea,  of  its 
own  nature,  unquestionably  right  ?  After  all, 
the  so-called  ''up-to-date"  ideas  are  only  a  re- 
version to  the  savage  man's  instincts,  and  are 
even  more  old-fashioned,  therefore,  than  the 
others.  The  modern  man  is  a  curious  being, 
and  more  than  half  a  child  in  the  eagerness 
with  which  he  will  pounce  on  some  long-for- 
gotten toy,  dragged  out  from  a  dusty  cupboard, 
and  pretend  that  it  is  the  very  latest  device  of 
some  ingenious  inventor  of  playthings.  But  it 
is  my  firm  belief  that  most  men  are  better  than 
they  profess  to  be.  And  there  are  few,  I  think, 
who  will  not,  in  their  candid  moments,  admit 
the  reality  of  the  distinction  between  love  and 
passion,  or  recognise  the  altruism  of  the  one, 
the  egotism  of  the  other. 

II. — HUSBAND  AND  WIFE 

IT  is  said  —  and  I  believe  statistics  support 
the  statement — that  there  is  a  growing  distaste 
for  marriage.  Many  apparently  reasonable  argu- 
ments are  set  forth  on  behalf  of  the  man,  yes, 


Marriage  241 

and  the  woman,  who  deliberately  and  of  set 
purpose  avoids  the  marriage  state.  Pressure  of 
economic  conditions,  the  desire  for  a  freer  life, 
fear  of  added  responsibilities,  the  necessity  for 
individual  development,  and  all  kinds  of  curious 
reasons  are  alleged  in  excuse  of  this  tendency. 
But,  at  bottom,  we  may  safely  say  that,  save  in 
a  few  exceptional  cases,  selfishness  is  the  sole 
motive  which  sways  the  modern  man  or  woman 
in  this  matter. 

I  do  not  intend  to  argue  the  point.  Nor, 
indeed,  should  I  have  alluded  to  it  even  in 
passing  were  it  not  for  the  fact  that  many 
apologists  for  marriage  are,  almost  unconsciously, 
disseminating  a  new  view  of  that  holy  state 
altogether  opposed  to  its  real  meaning  and 
object.  The  idea  is,  apparently,  that  marriage 
is  to  be  made  more  "  attractive  " — on  the  same 
principle,  I  suppose,  that  some  quite  worthy 
clergymen  and  ministers  seek  to  entice  larger 
congregations  to  their  churches  and  chapels  by 
what  I  can  only  describe  as  exhibition  side- 
shows. 

The  latest  view  of  marriage,  then,  is  to  re- 
gard it  as  a  condition  of  existence  in  which  each 
of  the  parties  has  the  fullest  liberty  to  do  as  he 
or  she  pleases.  I  am  not  now  referring  to  the 
grosser  exaggerations  of  this  doctrine,  concern- 
ing which  I  shall  have  something  to  say  later ; 
for  the  moment  I  wish  to  examine  only  the 
more  moderate  view  which  contemplates  the 

Q 


242  What  of  To-Day  ? 

complete  separation  of  the  real  lives  of  the 
couple  who  have  taken  each  other  for  better 
or  worse. 

The  argument  seems  to  be  based  on  the 
assumption  that  it  is  quite  impossible  to  expect 
two  frail  human  beings  to  spend  their  lives  to- 
gether with  any  real  happiness  to  either.  Inevit- 
able quarrels,  in  themselves  of  no  consequence, 
are  treated  as  though  they  must  raise  insurpass- 
able  barriers  between  husband  and  wife.  We 
all  jar  on  each  other  at  times,  but  it  appears 
that  a  man  and  his  wife  cannot  get  on  each 
other's  nerves  for  a  moment  without  a  deadly 
feud  at  once  arising. 

Those  people,  who  would  have  a  married 
couple  go  their  own  road  in  all  the  ordinary 
details  of  life,  are  lacking  in  a  sense  of  pro- 
portion. But  it  is  really  bizarre,  even  in 
these  grotesque  times,  to  find  the  proposition 
put  forward  in  sober  earnestness,  that  the  less 
a  husband  and  wife  see  of  each  other,  the  more 
affectionate  they  are  likely  to  remain.  I  can 
imagine  that  a  certain  friendship  might  exist 
between  two  persons  thus  situated,  but  they 
certainly  could  not  be  regarded  as  fulfilling  the 
duties  of  the  married  state. 

Duties !  That  is  the  word — a  word  I  know 
which  is  anathema  to  many  people  at  the  pre- 
sent day.  Yet,  whether  a  man  dislikes  the 
notion  of  duty  or  not,  experience  will  teach 
him,  sooner  or  later,  that  it  is  not  good  for 


Marriage  243 

him  to  trifle  with  his  sense  of  duty,  and  that 
should  he  neglect  it,  he  will  find  that  he  has 
done  so  at  a  heavy  cost.  You  cannot  fight 
against  God  and  win. 

Now,  to  put  it  on  the  lowest  ground,  would 
it  not  be  much  more  sensible  for  married  people, 
instead  of  running  away  in  this  cowardly  fashion 
from  their  responsibilities  and  duties  towards  each 
other  in  the  selfish  pursuit  of  feverish  pleasures, 
to  face  the  facts,  and  endeavour  so  to  order 
their  lives  as  to  promote  the  real  happiness  of 
both? 

Man  and  woman  are  in  many  respects  comple- 
mentary to  each  other ;  and  therefore  is  it  not 
the  mission  of  each  to  complete  the  other  and 
to  be  completed  by  the  other,  so  that  the 
happiness  and  perfection  of  both  depends  upon 
each  asking  and  receiving  from  the  other,  as 
has  been  well  said,  what  the  other  alone  can 
give? 

What  other  basis  for  marriage  can  there  be 
but  union,  and  how  can  there  be  any  true 
marriage-union  when  it  is  the  chief  occupation 
of  each  partner  to  see  as  little  of  the  other  as 
possible  ?  In  wedlock,  as  it  has  ever  been  re- 
garded in  Christendom,  the  man  and  woman 
become  indissolubly  one,  and  live  on,  each 
ministering  to  each,  each  serving  the  other, 
each  merging  their  life  into  that  of  the  other, 
each  losing  self  to  find  it  more  fully  and  better 
expressed  in  the  other.  Thus,  and  thus  only, 


244  What  of  To-Day? 

docs  wedded  life  become  in  deed  and  in  truth 
a  love-life,  revealing  itself  in  terms  of  mutual 
service.  For  he  who  loves  most  has  the  most, 
not  to  get,  but  to  give.  Self-abnegation  is  the 
means  in  and  through  which  love  finds  expres- 
sion. 

The  marriage  state,  then,  being  a  state  of 
love,  must  also  be  one  of  self-sacrifice.  This 
sacrifice,  in  the  deepest  sense,  is  not  to  be  more 
on  one  side  than  the  other.  In  the  blending 
processes  of  married  life,  the  mingled  sacrifice 
of  the  husband  and  the  wife  make  the  happiness 
and  completeness  of  the  home. 

Men  and  women,  therefore,  must  recognise 
that  the  keynote  of  marriage  is  sacrifice,  and  if 
they  undertake  its  duties  and  its  joys  in  that 
spirit,  they  will  not  find  the  trials  of  married  life 
too  heavy  to  be  borne.  They  will  not  want  to 
be  everlastingly  away  from  each  other  ;  they  will 
not  want  to  meet  each  other  on  the  footing  of 
acquaintances,  or  to  have  each  their  own  circle 
of  friends  into  which  the  other  has  no  right  of 
entry. 

But  while  the  sacrifices  demanded  by  the  mar- 
riage state  are  common  to  men  and  women  alike, 
their  duties,  of  course,  differ  widely,  and  it  is 
here  that  troubles  and  misunderstandings  so  fre- 
quently arise. 

Now,  with  all  due  respect  to  the  militant 
ladies  whose  activities  have  been  till  lately  so  con- 
spicuous, I  do  not  propose  to  say  anything  about 


Marriage  245 

the  superiority  of  either  sex  over  the  other.  There 
cannot,  and  ought  not  to  be,  any  question  of  the 
superiority  or  inferiority  of  either  sex,  for  the 
differences  between  them  are  chiefly  psychologi- 
cal. Man  is  mind  and  woman  is  heart.  He 
rules  by  reason,  she  legislates  by  love.  He  is 
logical,  she  is  emotional,  and  where  he  is  satis- 
fied to  judge  by  a  nice  balancing  of  pros  and 
cons,  she  is  content  to  trust  to  her  intuition. 

Not  many  days  ago  a  Frenchwoman  said  to 
me:  'Men  are  like  regular  verbs;  knowing 
one,  I  know  them  all,  in  all  their  moods  and 
tenses." 

'  That  may  be,"  I  answered,  "*  but  women 
are  like  your  French  irregular  verbs,  and  unless 
a  man  studies  them  individually  in  their  every 
peculiar  mood  and  tense,  he  will  be  likely  to 
misunderstand  them,  much  to  his  own  discom- 
fiture." 

The  first  business  of  a  bride  and  bridegroom  is 
to  study  one  another,  and  to  get  to  understand  one 
another.  They  must  make  allowances  for  inevit- 
able differences,  differences  of  sex,  of  education, 
of  taste,  of  tradition,  and  each  must  try  to  be 
satisfied  with  what  he  or  she  finds  in  the  other, 
and  each  must  endeavour  to  promote  that  other's 
interests,  not  in  one  particular,  but  in  everything. 
This  is  their  mission,  and  they  must  face  it 
bravely  and  hopefully. 

And  now  I  have  something  to  say  to  the 
husband,  and  it  is  this  :  Be  kind  and  thought- 


246 

ful  to  your  wife.  Bear  with  her  little  feminine 
ways.  Never  attempt  to  check  the  flowing  tide 
of  her  talk.  This  is  a  cardinal  rule ;  whatever 
else  you  may  try  to  check  in  your  wife,  never 
check  her  chatter.  Remember,  a  woman  needs 
many  safety-valves  and  outlets  for  her  tempera- 
ment. Be  patient  and  tender  with  her.  Don't 
say  sharp  and  cutting  things,  and  don't  be  too 
fond  of  speaking  your  mind  and  saying  what 
you  mean  and  meaning  what  you  say,  as  one 
having  authority.  Consider  the  sensitive  char- 
acter of  a  woman's  disposition,  and  humour  her 
in  every  possible  way.  Don't  be  hasty,  but 
bear  yourself  with  that  manliness  which  will 
never  cause  a  woman  pain. 

Further  than  all  this,  I  would  ask  the  hus- 
band not  to  be  careless  of  the  little  likes  and 
dislikes  of  his  wife.  They  are  a  part  of  her, 
and  must  be  counted  with.  Most  women  have 
a  passion  for  finery  in  some  form  or  other ; 
jewellery,  or  dress,  or  both.  Well,  give  her 
what  you  can,  even  if  it  costs  you  some  sacri- 
fice, and  let  her  feel  it  is  from  you,  and  that 
you  have  not  given  her  what  has  cost  you 
nothing.  Praise  her  and  make  much  of  her,  and 
above  all,  remember  that  a  woman's  thirst  for 
sympathy  is  like  that  of  the  flowers  for  sunshine. 
If  you  are  always  away  at  the  club,  if  you  are 
never  thinking  of  her,  if  you  neglect  to  write 
when  away  from  her,  others  may  come  and  offer 
her  what  you  withhold,  and  who  will  then  be 


Marriage  247 

to  blame  ?  If  anything  goes  wrong  in  married 
life  I  usually  put  the  blame  on  the  man.  He  is 
the  stronger,  and  he  should  overcome  himself 
and  protect  the  wife  of  his  heart,  lending  her  a 
strong  arm  on  which  to  lean. 

And  what  of  the  wife's  own  duties  towards 
her  husband  ?  First  and  specially,  I  would 
remind  her  that  she  must  keep  the  home  in 
good  order.  Man  appreciates  a  beautiful  home, 
possibly  even  more  than  a  woman  does,  because 
he  is  in  it  less.  Let  the  sun  stream  through 
your  windows  upon  rooms  tastefully  arrayed, 
and  bearing,  from  kitchen  to  attic,  the  traces  of 
a  true,  wifely  devotion  to  the  home. 

And  keep  a  good  table.  There  is  very  much 
in  that.  Even  in  the  Christian  man  there  is 
much  of  the  animal.  Let  it  be  impossible  for 
any  invidious  distinction  to  be  drawn  between 
meals  out  and  meals  at  home.  The  dinner  may 
be  simple,  but  let  it  be  good  and  hot  and 
daintily  served. 

Let  the  wife,  too,  remember  always  to  be 
neat  and  smart,  even  when  she  is  quite  alone 
with  her  husband.  A  man  likes  to  see  his  wife 
well  turned  out,  and  it  is  her  business  to  look 
pleasing  in  his  eyes.  Many  women  dress  to 
look  better  than  other  women,  and  consequently 
they  overdress.  Let  her  consult  his  taste  rather 
than  that  of  her  modiste. 

Do  not  get  into  the  habit  of  contradicting 
all  your  husband's  cherished  views,  from  mere 


248  What  of  To-Day  ? 

perversity,  but  study  to  gratify,  within  reasonable 
limits,  his  whims  and  fancies.  Woman  has  no 
monopoly  of  fads.  Never  offer  him  lame  and 
impossible  excuses,  be  frank  and  aboveboard  in 
everything,  and  endeavour,  as  far  as  you  can,  not 
to  keep  him  waiting  about  while  you  change 
your  dress  or  put  on  your  "  things." 

Try  to  make  the  wheels  of  life's  chariot  run 
smoothly.  Never  preach  at  your  husband,  never 
nag,  never  scold  in  public,  never  cry  "on  pur- 
pose." These  tricks  of  women  often  bring  them 
what  they  want,  but  they  may  in  the  process 
kill  a  husband's  love.  No  man  wants  to  be 
teased,  and  no  man  wants  to  be  pestered.  And 
no  wife  ever  gains  in  the  long  run  by  any  tactics 
that  are  a  breach  of  the  law  of  love. 

Have  I  spoken  only  of  the  trivial,  of  the 
little  things  ?  Believe  me,  it  is  these  that  count 
in  marriage  far  more  than  the  big  things.  Most 
of  us  are  destined  to  lead  humdrum  lives,  apart 
from  which  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  when 
marriage  ends  in  tragedy,  it  is  more  often  than 
not  to  small  beginnings,  to  bickerings  and  mis- 
understandings, that  the  tragedy  may  be  traced. 

But  if  a  husband  and  wife,  knit  together  in 
the  closest  of  ties,  build  up  a  home  which  shall 
be  a  harbour  of  refuge  from  the  storms  of  life, 
a  temple  in  which  love  reigns  and  triumphs,  a 
sanctuary  in  which  holiness  dwells ;  if  they  are 
courteous  and  chivalrous  to  one  another,  and 
do  not  let  the  discord  of  quarrelling  and  wrang- 


Marriage  249 

ling  mar  their  peace  ;  then  surely  they  will  have 
no  need  to  resort  to  artificial  means  for  keep- 
ing alive  that  affection  whose  natural  flowering 
can  alone  ensure  their  lasting  happiness  and  joy 
in  each  other's  company. 

Disappointments,  sorrows,  and  troubles  are 
inevitable.  There  is  no  life  without  them. 
They  are  the  test  of  our  fidelity  and  our 
truth,  nor  will  the  shirking  of  our  duties  keep 
them  away.  But  when  husband  and  wife  are 
one  physically,  one  morally,  one  mentally,  one 
in  a  supreme  effort  to  sink  all  differences  and 
to  face  all  difficulties,  then  indeed  they  may  be 
said  to  have  solved  not  only  the  secret  of  a 
happy  marriage,  but  the  problem  of  life  itself. 
To  each  I  would  say:  "Measure  thy  life  by 
loss  and  not  by  gain,  not  by  the  wine  drunk, 
but  by  the  wine  poured  forth." 

III. — DIVORCE  MADE  EASY 

IT  is  not  surprising  that  in  a  day  when  men  speak 
of  philosophy  without  reason,  of  morality  without 
sanction,  and  of  religion  without  dogma,  there 
should  be  persons  who  contend  that  marriage 
ought  to  be  binding  only  until  some  danger  zone 
of  life  is  reached,  or  even  until  by  mutual  con- 
sent the  married  couple  agree  to  part.  We  have 
among  us  men  who  unblushingly  advocate  what 
is  called  leasehold  marriage,  which  is  a  respectable 
term  for  the  hellish  idea  of  free  love.  It  seems 


250  What  of  To-Day  ? 

that  the  notion  is  gaining  ground,  more  or  less 
among  all  classes,  that  marriage  is  nothing  more 
than  a  bilateral  contract,  entered  into  by  mutual 
arrangement,  and  easily  terminable  at  any  time. 

To  such  a  state  of  mind  have  some  of  our 
fellow-countrymen  come  !  Putting  aside  the  blas- 
phemy involved  in  such  teaching,  what  is  this 
but  a  conspiracy  against  the  honour  of  manhood 
and  the  pure  dignity  of  womanhood  ?  It  is  a 
dragging  down  of  marriage  from  the  sublime 
heights  to  which  Christianity  has  raised  it,  to 
rob  it  of  its  poetry  and  spiritual  power,  by  turn- 
ing it  into  a  business  transaction  on  a  level  with 
drawing  a  cheque  or  buying  a  house. 

For  if  marriage  is  nothing  better  than  a 
bilateral  contract,  there  is  no  reason  in  the  world 
why  it  should  not  be  treated  as  a  matter-of-fact 
business  arrangement,  a  transaction  into  which 
enters  nothing  higher  than  ordinary  commercial 
buying  and  selling. 

But  is  marriage  a  mere  contract,  civil  or  other- 
wise ?  The  Law  treats  it  as  such,  I  know,  but 
in  certain  matters  the  Law  is  not  always  a  safe 
guide.  Let  me  take  an  easily  understandable 
analogy.  Everyone  will  admit  that,  rightly  or 
wrongly,  the  first  debts  that  a  man  of  the  world 
considers  himself  in  honour  bound  to  pay  are 
his  card  and  his  betting  debts.  He  may  dismiss 
with  a  laugh  the  importunities  of  his  tailor,  the 
groans  of  his  grocer,  the  bullying  of  his  butcher, 
but  he  will  strain  every  nerve,  he  will  resort  to 


Marriage  251 

every  device  to  meet  the  obligations  he  has 
incurred  on  a  racecourse  or  in  a  gambling 
den. 

Yet  the  Law  lays  it  down  that  such  debts  are 
no  debts  at  all,  and  that,  legally  speaking,  no 
one  has  any  claim  on  him  in  respect  of  them. 

I  am  not  concerned  here  with  either  the  ethical 
or  the  legal  aspects  of  gambling.  I  merely  cite 
the  analogy  to  show  that  there  are  cases  where 
the  Law  cannot  be  considered  in  relation  to  con- 
duct, and  that  men  will  regulate  their  actions 
rather  according  to  their  own  standard  of  honour 
or  morality  than  by  the  strict  interpretation  of  a 
civil  statute. 

If  this  be  so,  how  much  more  should  the 
Christian  hold  fast  to  the  belief  that,  however 
the  Law  may  regard  it,  marriage  is  something  far 
holier  and  higher  than  a  civil  contract,  that  may 
be  rescinded  by  mutual  consent  at  any  time  the 
contracting  parties  think  fit? 

No  Christian  can,  in  fact,  be  content  with  a 
"civil  marriage,"  or  believe  that,  in  marrying,  he 
is  entering  into  an  agreement  of  no  more  im- 
portance, commercially  speaking,  than  the  renting 
of  a  house.  He  knows,  none  better,  that  marriage 
is  a  moral  and  a  religious  contract,  implying  a 
union  between  man  and  woman  so  close,  so 
intimate,  so  sublime  and  sacred,  that  it  becomes 
a  mysterious  religious  rite  in  which  the  con- 
tracting parties  themselves,  as  the  sacred  offici- 
ating ministers  of  it,  call  upon  God  Almighty 


252  What  of  To-Day  ? 

to  witness  that  they  are  pledged  to  adhere  to 
each  other  until  death  do  them  part. 

The  terms  on  which  bride  and  bridegroom 
make  their  vows,  the  very  language  which  they 
utter  before  the  altar,  proves  beyond  question 
that  on  their  wedding-day  they  pass  into  a  state 
of  life  which  can  only  be  ended,  and  into  a 
relationship  which  can  only  be  resolved,  by  the 
hand  of  death. 

No  bride  and  bridegroom  who  for  the  words 
"till  death  us  do  part,"  were  to  substitute  such 
phrases  as  "till  we  desire  a  change,"  or  "till 
something  better  turns  up,"  would  be  held  by 
any  Christian  person  to  be  in  any  real  sense 
married  at  all.  Before  now,  I  have  heard  people 
contend — and  it  is  an  absurd,  a  cowardly,  and  an 
irrational  contention — that  they  are  not  respon- 
sible for  the  wording  of  the  marriage  rite.  They 
acknowledge  that  they  repeated  the  words  the 
Church  puts  into  the  mouths  of  those  who  are 
to  be  united,  but  they  did  not  frame  the  service 
and  ought  not,  so  they  argue,  to  be  held  any 
more  liable  for  the  severity  and  old-fashioned 
nature  of  its  expressions  than  an  Anglican  clergy- 
man is  for  the  wording  of  the  Thirty-nine  Articles. 
No.  They  did  not  frame  the  marriage  service 
— and  it  is  a  great  and  a  grand  thing  that  the 
services  of  the  Catholic  Church  are  enshrined 
in  unalterable  terms — but  they  did  in  the  most 
solemn  way  freely  utter  the  vow  of  life-long 
duration,  they  did  publicly,  in  the  sight  of  God 


Marriage  253 

and  the  people  assembled,  endorse  the  language 
of  the  Church.  And  from  that  vow  nothing  in 
life  can  release  them. 

I  have  often  been  asked  whether,  under  any 
given  circumstances — exceptional  and  possibly 
hard  and  trying  circumstances— a  married  couple 
would  be  justified  in  dissolving  their  marriage 
and  entering  into  a  new  alliance.  I  can  only 
answer  that  question  as  many  other  questions 
about  Christian  practice  must  be  answered.  We 
have  got  to  follow  Christ's  teaching.  And  on 
this  matter  His  commands  are  plain  enough. 
"Whosoever  shall  marry  her  that  is  put  away 
committeth  adultery."  Hence  the  Pauline  direc- 
tion :  "A  woman  is  bound  by  the  law  as  long  as 
her  husband  liveth." 

What  binds  one  party  binds  the  other  also. 
Man  and  wife  by  the  Christian  law  are  indis- 
solubly  one.  There  may  be  in  certain  cases, 
which  are  clearly  defined,  legal  separation — alas, 
for  the  necessity  even  of  that.  But  even  then  the 
tie  is  not  wholly  severed,  so  that,  until  death 
releases  them,  every  married  couple  must  bear 
for  better  or  worse  the  consequences  of  their 
solemnly  plighted  troth. 

The  end  and  object  for  which  marriage  was 
ordained  and  instituted  seems  to  be  forgotten 
nowadays  by  many  people.  It  was  never  meant 
to  be  a  state  of  life  in  which  passion  should  run 
riot,  a  soulless  pursuit  of  the  flesh-pots  of  Egypt. 
Even  the  old  pagans,  with  all  their  licence,  never 


254  What  of  To-Day? 

contemplated  marriage  as  a  mere  device  for  self- 
gratification,  or  thought  of  it  as  abolishing  the 
necessity  for  temperance  and  self-abnegation.  Yet 
there  are  nominal  Christians  in  our  midst  to-day 
whose  gospel  is  the  degrading  creed  of  the 
Hedonist.  They  have  sold  their  birthright  for  a 
mess  of  sensuous  pottage,  and  they  have  become 
"without  understanding"  in  their  rebellion 
against  the  ordinance  of  Him  Whom  they  pro- 
fess to  follow.  How  these  truths  are  brought 
home  to  us  under  the  chastisement  of  war  ! 

The  clamour  for  easier  divorce  and  laxer 
divorce  laws  is  very  loud  in  the  land  just  now, 
and,  to  our  shame  be  it  said,  the  cry  is  sup- 
ported by  many  who  call  themselves  Christians. 
Frankly,  I  find  it  impossible  to  understand  the 
attitude  of  such  men.  Even  the  unbeliever,  who 
is  sincerely  desirous  of  maintaining  the  ethical 
and  moral  standard  of  society,  is  wont  to  tread 
circumspectly  in  approaching  this  difficult  ques- 
tion, for  he  realises  to  the  full  what  dreadful 
consequences,  even  on  the  material  side,  may 
follow  the  granting  of  too  great  facilities  for 
divorce.  Yet  among  the  loudest  voices  raised 
to-day  in  favour  of  an  easy  legal  dissolution  of 
the  marriage  tie  are  those  of  professing  Chris- 
tians. What  more  disheartening  thought  can 
there  be  than  this?  What  hope  can  there  be 
for  the  stability  of  the  social  fabric  when  its 
foundations  are  being  undermined  by  these  men, 
worse  than  foreign  spies  in  our  midst  ?  Leave 


Marriage  255 

divorce  between  man  and  wife  to  the  hand  of 
Death.  Keep,  you,  your  hands  off.  So  would 
I  address  them. 

IV. — RACE  SUICIDE 

NOT  so  many  years  ago  large  families  in  this 
country  were  the  rule  rather  than  the  exception, 
while  childlessness  was  the  greatest  misfortune 
that  could  befall  a  married  couple.  The  child- 
less wife  was  an  object  of  commiseration  in  that, 
though  married,  she  had  never  tasted  the  holy 
happiness  of  maternity,  which  was  held  in  those 
days  to  be  perhaps  the  greatest  of  all  earthly  joys. 

I  have  already  referred  to  the  Hedonist  view 
of  marriage,  as  exemplified  by  those  people  who 
crush  their  consciences  into  the  temporarily  satis- 
fying belief  that  wedded  life  is  merely  a  state 
for  providing  additional  facilities  for  fresh  pleasure 
and  self-enjoyment,  without  any  corresponding 
duties  or  responsibilities.  Such  people  have,  no 
doubt,  always  existed.  They  certainly  did  so  at 
the  time  I  speak  of.  But  this,  at  least,  must  be 
set  to  their  credit,  that  they  did  not  seek  to 
evade  the  responsibility  of  having  children.  They 
may  have  been  careless  or  negligent  parents,  but 
they,  at  any  rate,  could  not  be  accused  of  living 
entirely  for  themselves. 

Can  the  same  be  said  of  us  to-day?  Is  it 
not,  on  the  contrary,  becoming  increasingly  com- 
mon for  young  men  and  women  to  marry  with 
the  deliberate  and  express  understanding  that  no 


256  What  of  To-Day? 

children  are  to  be  permitted  to  interfere  with 
the  irresponsible  and  luxurious  existence  they 
contemplate  ? 

In  England,  thank  God,  in  spite  of  the  pro- 
gress of  these  most  abominable  errors,  there  are 
still  overwhelming  numbers  who  recognise  that 
there  are  few  responsibilities  so  sacred  in  character 
as  that  with  which  wedded  couples  are  charged 
as  parents.  The  best  people  realise  this :  that, 
because  of  the  sacred  trust  which  has  been  com- 
mitted to  them — of  increasing  and  multiplying 
the  human  family — God  has  made  unity  and  per- 
petuity the  characteristic  notes  of  wedded  life. 
Alas!  across  the  Channel  our  Allies  are  now 
suffering  for  their  deliberate  shortage  of  the 
birth-rate.  Instead  of  having  a  population  of 
70,000,000  to  draw  upon  in  the  struggle  with 
Germany's  67,000,000,  France  has  but  38,000,000, 
while  we,  in  these  British  Isles,  are  sadly  below 
our  proper  strength  in  numbers. 

We  are  constantly  reminded  of  the  hardships 
involved  for  some  in  carrying  out  to  the  full 
their  duties  in  this  respect.  But  what  about  the 
endless  tale  of  hardships  and  wrongs  resulting 
from  neglect  of  duty?  There  is  no  law,  social, 
civil  or  divine,  that  does  not  press  heavily  upon 
some.  It  is  when  a  man  is  hard  hit  that  he 
reveals  his  mental  state  and  his  real  moral  char- 
acter. If  duty  is  hard  to  do,  the  effort  of  doing 
it  builds  up  a  man  in  all  that  is  best. 

It  is  difficult  to  understand  how  any  Christian 


Marriage  257 

people  who  believe  in  a  revelation  can  deliberately 
evade  the  loftiest  and  holiest  duties  of  their  calling. 
Yet  they  do  evade  those  duties,  and  they  suffer 
the  consequences  in  a  lower  standard  of  character, 
and  in  the  harm  that  comes  of  bartering  principle 
for  expediency. 

I  have  nothing  to  say  to  those  married 
people  who,  for  one  cause  or  another,  cannot 
exercise  their  legitimate  rights.  What  I  do 
wish  to  impress  upon  all  who  are  in  the  married 
state  is,  that  every  right  they  possess  should  be 
exercised  rightly.  There  is  no  greater  plague 
on  the  face  of  the  earth  to-day  than  that  which 
is  being  spread  by  married  people  who  want 
to  enjoy  life  while  shirking  its  responsibilities. 
Marriage  with  them  seems  to  have  lost  its 
message  and  its  meaning,  and  the  state  in  which 
they  live,  instead  of  ennobling  and  beautifying, 
not  infrequently  so  debases  them  that  their  lives 
end  in  divorce,  insanity,  or  even  self-destruction. 
The  foul  contagion  of  this  pestilence  must  be 
arrested,  men  and  women  must  be  reminded 
that  we  are  members  one  of  another,  and  this 
country,  which  professes  the  Christian  religion, 
must  be  awakened  to  the  significance  of  the 
plague  which  is  rampant  in  its  homes. 

It  is  one  of  the  saddest  phases  of  this  sub- 
ject that,  in  spite  of  the  appalling  consequences 
of  the  profanation  of  marriage  which  confront  us 
on  every  hand,  many  married  people  persistently 
refuse  to  learn  from  the  experiences  of  others, 

R 


258  What  of  To-Day  ? 

and  speak,  not  only  openly,  but  even  boastfully, 
of  what  I  can  only  call  a  sin  that  cries  to 
Heaven  for  vengeance. 

Thus  does  the  artificial  and  selfish  creed  of 
the  day  render  men  and  women  shameless  and 
careless  before  God  and  man.  A  generation 
ago  vice  was  looked  upon  as  corruption ;  to-day 
we  are  asked  to  regard  it  as  a  stage  of  evolution, 
an  inevitable  result  of  the  operation  of  certain 
influences,  the  sign,  not  of  a  fall,  but  of  a  nor- 
mal and  healthy  growth  in  life.  Man  is  seeking 
to  become  a  law  unto  himself,  and  he  would 
weave  the  shallow  subtleties  of  infidel  philo- 
sophers into  a  defence  of  that  reign  of  passion 
which  he  would  proclaim. 

But  passion  has  got  to  be  brought  into  sub- 
jection. These  demoralising  views  have  spread 
far  and  wide.  In  the  name  of  all  that  is  sacred 
I  say  it  is  time  to  call  a  halt.  When  wives 
refuse  the  privilege  of  motherhood,  because  it 
interferes  with  the  London  season,  or  with  the 
hunting  season,  or  because  they  cannot  be  bored 
with  a  nursery,  or  because  there  is  not  enough 
room  in  their  flat,  or  because  they  themselves 
are  not  strong  enough  to  bear  what  they  do  not 
like,  it  is  about  time,  I  think,  to  read  the  Riot 
Act.  How  such  women  profane  the  law  of 
God! 

But  are  not  husbands  even  more   to   blame  ? 

Some  men  try  to  persuade  themselves  that 
they  have  a  right  to  regulate  their  state  because 


Marriage  259 

of  their  small  income,  and  because  science  has 
come  to  their  aid  in  this  matter.  According  to 
this  doctrine,  which  I  have  lately  seen  advocated, 
it  is  quite  clear  that  any  city  clerk  who  is 
clever  enough  not  to  be  found  out,  is  free  to 
rob  his  employer,  and  indeed  any  murderer 
who  is  sure  of  escaping  detection,  may  proceed 
to  do  his  victim  to  death.  I  am  afraid  there 
are  not  a  few  in  our  midst  whose  deeds  must 
be  called  by  the  ugly  name  of  race-suicide. 
The  decline  in  the  birth-rate  is  becoming  every 
day  more  and  more  terribly  significant.  Where 
will  it  end? 

Not  long  ago  when  I  was  denouncing  this 
vice  to  which  I  am  now  referring,  an  educated 
man  exclaimed:  "And  what  have  we  our  free- 
dom for,  except  to  exercise  it?"  To  which  I 
replied:  "And  what,  pray,  have  we  our  police 
for,  except  to  stop  us  from  exercising  it?" 

Liberty  does  not  spell  licence.  Liberty  brings 
with  it  responsibilities  which  necessarily  cramp 
our  absolute  freedom.  And  much  as  men  and 
women  of  to-day  dislike  being  reminded  of 
their  responsibilities,  they  will  not  in  the  long 
run  find  any  profit  to  themselves  in  ignoring 
them. 

Can  any  sane  Christian  suppose  that  he  has 
been  given  his  free  choice  between  good  and 
evil  for  no  purpose  whatever — that  it  can  make 
no  difference  to  him  or  his  fellows  whether  he 
chooses  the  good  or  the  evil?  Even  the  Ag- 


260  What  of  To-Day  ? 

nostic  or  the  Atheist  is  ready  with  very  valid 
reasons  why  every  good  citizen  should  fulfil  his 
obligations  towards  the  State.  And  we,  as  a 
people,  must  be  sunk  low  indeed  if  even  the 
materialist  condemns,  on  social  grounds,  our 
mode  of  living. 

It  was  the  Founder  of  Christianity  Who  set 
marriage  upon  an  imperishable  basis,  and  there- 
by laid  the  foundation,  in  and  through  family 
life,  of  modern  society,  and  of  all  social  evolu- 
tion ;  and  has  the  Christian  to  be  reminded  of 
his  duty  by  those  who  profess  no  allegiance  to 
Christ? 

The  family  is  the  unit  that  builds  up  the 
State.  And  in  the  happiness  of  the  family  circle 
there  are  gained  those  impressions  which  make 
or  unmake,  long  years  after,  when  children 
have  grown  to  manhood,  the  destinies  of  men 
and  empires. 

Those,  therefore,  who  seek  to  weaken  the 
bonds  of  matrimony,  those  who  would  keep 
from  the  home  influences  which  are  essential 
to  it,  are  working  to  undermine  the  very 
foundation  upon  which  the  social  order  rests. 

I  shall  doubtless  be  severely  criticised  for 
daring  to  touch  upon  a  subject  in  regard  to 
which,  it  is  held,  every  married  person  has  a 
right  to  express  and  practise  his  or  her  own 
theories.  I  shall  be  told  that  I  am  wanting  in 
decency,  in  delicacy,  in  tact,  even  in  common- 
sense  ;  that  married  people  must  judge  of  these 


Marriage  261 

matters  for  themselves,  and  decide  them  as  best 
suits  their  own  convenience.  But,  as  I  have 
tried  to  show,  this  is  not  a  matter  upon  which 
the  individual  has  the  right  to  decide,  and  if  I 
were  to  be  silent  while  the  springs  of  our 
national  life  are  being  poisoned,  just  because 
an  outcry  may  be  raised  against  me,  I  should 
be  not  a  Christian  Englishman,  but  a  time- 
serving miserable  coward. 


XXIII 
THE   SERVANT  PROBLEM 

MOST  of  us  recognise  that,  whether  we  like 
it  or  not,  many  of  the  old  class  barriers  are 
being  swept  away  by  the  new  democratic  spirit ; 
but  are  we  equally  resolved  to  accept  and  make 
the  best  of  the  new  condition  of  things?  It  is 
no  good  sitting  on  the  sea-shore  and  wringing 
one's  hands  over  the  fact  that  the  incoming 
tide  is  about  to  demolish  the  beautiful  sand 
castle  we  have  just  built,  and  it  is  equally 
fatuous  for  the  modern  mistress  to  lament  over 
the  "old-fashioned  servant"  of  fifty  years  ago, 
who  "knew  her  place"  and  did  not  presume 
to  ask  for  evenings  off  and  days  out,  and  who 
had,  moreover,  no  new-fangled  notions  of  what 
was  due  to  her. 

Whether  the  well-to-do  classes  like  it  or 
not,  it  is  time  that  they  made  up  their  minds 
to  accept  the  fact  that  domestic  servants  of  both 
sexes  have  altogether  different  views  of  life, 
as  well  as  of  service,  from  what  were  held  a 
generation  or  two  ago.  Naturally  enough,  most 
girls,  after  the  so-called  education  they  pass 
through  in  primary  or  secondary  schools,  feel 

262 


The  Servant  Problem       263 

no  inclination  to  go  into  service.  Their  ambi- 
tion is  to  become  clerks,  typists,  or  shop-girls. 
Even  as  mill-hands  they  feel  more  free  than  as 
servants.  Not  only  do  these  occupations  seem 
to  them  to  be  less  unworthy,  and  to  bring  better 
pay,  but  they  also  afford  them  more  chances, 
and  give  them  more  leisure. 

Of  course  it  is  an  error  of  the  gravest  kind 
to  look  upon  any  sort  of  honest  work  as  un- 
worthy or  in  any  way  degrading.  But,  when 
all  is  said  and  done,  are  these  people  to  be 
blamed  for  trying  to  better  themselves  ?  On  the 
contrary,  they  are  entirely  to  be  commended. 

I  emphasise  this  aspect  of  the  servant  ques- 
tion because  I  want  to  bring  it  home  to  the 
modern  mistress  how  important  it  is  for  her 
home  peace  to  try  and  understand  these  things 
from  the  servant's  standpoint.  The  day  has  gone 
by  when  the  servant  could  be  ignored  as  a  per- 
son who  had  no  right  to  have  "  views."  The 
time  has  passed  for  ever  when  masters  and  mis- 
tresses could  treat  their  servants  as  chattels,  and 
dictate  to  them  what  they  should  wear,  or  do, 
or  eat.  Servants  resent  overmuch  interference, 
and  she  is  a  wise  mistress  who  has  learned  how 
to  have  her  way  in  the  house  without  unduly 
asserting  herself.  I  venture  to  suggest  that  the 
best  thing  to  do  after  engaging  a  girl  is  to 
observe  what  she  can  do,  and  what  she  will  not 
or  cannot  do. 

One  thing   is  quite    certain.     It  is  a  waste  of 


264  What  of  To-Day? 

time  to  look  for  the  ideal  in  any  walk  of  life. 
The  servant  who  fulfils  all  the  requirements  of 
some  people  has  not  yet  appeared  upon  the 
earth.  The  only  sound  philosophy  is  to  make 
the  best  of  the  service  at  one's  command,  never 
forgetting  that  the  servant  has  her  rights  as  well 
as  her  duties,  and  that  she  is  fully  aware  of  the 
fact. 

All  servants,  especially  under-servants,  need 
from  their  employers  a  little  personal  interest — 
a  word  of  praise,  of  encouragement,  and  of 
thanks.  Some  mistresses  begrudge  any  expres- 
sion of  appreciation,  lest  it  should  lead  to  the 
last  thing  on  earth  they  care  to  hear — an  appli- 
cation for  higher  wages.  It  is  not  in  such  a 
spirit  that  the  internal  organisation  of  the  home 
can  be  smoothly  worked.  Even  paid  servants 
require  a  little  encouragement. 

Then  there  is  the  important  duty  of  provid- 
ing leisure  time  for  all  servants,  particularly  in 
a  house  where  much  entertaining  is  done.  Ser- 
vants cannot  be  treated  as  if  they  were  machines 
capable  of  work  without  feeling  exhaustion. 
Everyone  requires  relaxation  and  rest. 

I  do  not  wish  to  be  misunderstood.  I  am 
not  one  of  those  who  teach  that  servants  should 
work  no  more  than  is  good  for  their  appetites. 
On  the  contrary,  a  bright,  busy  staff  of  servants 
who  are  kept  up  to  their  work,  will  be  found, 
as  a  rule,  to  grumble  the  least. 

Observation    has    led    me   to   the   conclusion 


The  Servant  Problem        265 

that  the  present  difficulty — which  is,  I  admit,  a 
real  one — in  getting  good  servants,  is  by  no 
means  altogether  due  either  to  over-education 
or  to  the  spread  of  democratic  ideas  ;  or  even, 
as  some  people  are  inclined  to  assert,  to  the 
growing  love  of  pleasure  among  the  wage- 
earning  classes. 

The  fact  is  that  of  late  years,  masters  and 
mistresses,  taking  them  as  a  class,  have  set  their 
servants  a  bad  example  in  small  things  as  well 
as  in  great.  If  the  lives  of  master  and  mistress 
are  without  method,  their  day  without  order, 
how  can  the  servants  be  expected  to  be  me- 
thodical and  punctual  ? 

If  a  lady  orders  luncheon  at  half-past  one  and 
returns  home  with  unexpected  guests  at  a  quarter- 
past  two,  it  is  quite  possible  that  the  entrees  may  be 
spoiled,  the  legumes  cold,  and  the  souffle  ruined. 
But  let  her  ask  herself — whose  is  the  fault  ?  It 
is  bad  enough  to  be  exacting,  it  is  worse  to  be 
irrational.  Mistresses  might  even  be  reasonable 
enough  to  intimate  occasionally  to  their  maids 
at  what  hour  after  midnight  they  may  be  ex- 
pected home. 

Is  it  not  a  pity,  too,  that  employers  of  ser- 
vants are  not  more  equable,  less  irritable  and 
put  out  by  every  trivial  little  thing  that  goes 
wrong?  I  am  aware  that  the  modern  rush  of 
life  is  exceptionally  wearing  to  the  nerves,  but 
is  that  a  reason  why  a  woman  should  vent  her 
ill-humour  on  her  servants  ?  Moreover,  a  woman 


266  What  of  To-Day? 

who  cannot  control  herself  will  certainly  never 
be  able  to  control  others. 

One  of  the  reasons,  again,  why  servants  now- 
adays are  more  like  "hands"  than  "friends," 
taking  little  more  personal  interest  in  the  home 
than  they  would  in  a  factory,  is  that  their  mas- 
ters and  mistresses  themselves  do  not  seem  to 
treasure  their  house  as  a  home.  In  a  sense,  it  is 
too  often  more  like  an  hotel,  to  which  are  invited, 
not  so  much  members  of  the  family  and  inti- 
mate friends,  as  people  of  fashion  and  persons 
of  notoriety,  in  whatever  way  that  notoriety  may 
have  been  gained.  Servants  who  are  engaged 
to  wait  upon  house  parties  of  this  sort  regard 
their  service  from  a  purely  business  standpoint, 
and  look  upon  the  guests  as  merely  so  many 
extra  machines  for  the  production  of  tips. 

The  master  and  mistress  who  seek  for  de- 
voted service  from  their  servants,  who  ask 
from  them  a  personal  interest  in  the  well-being 
of  the  household,  will  have  to  make  a  point  of 
creating  a  real  English  home,  with  real  English 
traditions  and  real  English  relations — as  distinct 
from  familiarities — between  employer  and  em- 
ployed. 

I  come  to  a  far  more  serious  aspect  of  the 
subject,  but  it  is  impossible  to  pass  it  by  in 
silence.  How  often  is  not  the  example  of  those 
upstairs  the  ruin  of  those  downstairs  ?  The  re- 
hearsal may  be  heard  in  the  drawing-room,  but 
the  actual  play  not  infrequently  takes  place  in 


The  Servant  Problem       267 

the  servants'  hall.  Nothing  nowadays  is  hid- 
den, and  nothing  can  be  hidden.  The  revela- 
tions of  the  Press  have  sharpened  the  wits  of 
dependants,  and  the  newest  scullery-maid  and  the 
youngest  stable-boy  know  pretty  well  everything 
about  everybody  who  crosses  the  threshold  of 
the  house.  It  is  not  surprising  that  in  slumdom 
is  known  what  never  ought  to  have  reached  villa- 
dom,  and  that  the  misdoings  of  a  certain  section 
of  the  community,  which,  as  it  is  called  "  the 
best  society,"  ought  to  set  the  best  example, 
are  the  common  talk  of  circles  where  those  who 
give  occasion  for  scandal  are  only  known  by 
name. 

Only  when  men  and  women  seriously  try  to 
rule  their  own  lives  and  their  own  homes  by 
the  immortal  principles  of  the  Christian  religion, 
will  they  get  good  sense  from  others.  Example 
and  atmosphere  have  more  influence  upon  all 
of  us  than  we  are  always  willing  to  admit.  We 
may  talk  as  we  like  about  the  growth  of  wrong 
ideas,  the  ceaseless  pursuit  of  pleasure  and  the 
lack  of  interest  in  their  work  characteristic  of 
the  modern  servants,  but  these  things  are 
fostered  by  the  spectacle  of  the  lives  not  so  un- 
commonly lived  by  the  wealthier  classes,  and  I 
say  that  the  main  reason  for  the  poor  service 
rendered  to-day,  where  it  exists,  lies  in  the  in- 
difference to  all  that  constitutes  home,  morally 
and  actually,  of  those  who  should  set  the 
standard  of  living  for  the  nation  at  large.  To 


268  What  of  To-Day  ? 

what  a  noble  and  uplifting  mission  masters  and 
mistresses  are  deputed  by  their  calling.  It 
would  be  well  for  England  if  only  they  were 
to  realise  it.  In  this,  as  in  other  domestic  and 
social  matters,  we  are  given  a  great  and  noble 
lead  by  our  beloved  King  and  Queen. 


XXIV 
"DIVINE    DISCONTENT" 

ONCE  upon  a  time,  when  men's  minds  were 
simpler  and  more  direct,  and  the  world  less 
sophisticated,  contentment  was  reckoned  a  virtue, 
and  discontentment  something  worse  than  a 
fault.  But  so  topsy-turvy  are  our  modern  ideas, 
so  wholly  have  we  lost  the  power  of  thinking 
clearly,  that  to-day  we  set  the  discontented  man 
upon  a  pedestal,  and  despise  the  contented  man 
as  of  no  earthly  use  in  this  busy,  hustling  world. 
It  is  a  curious  sign  of  the  times,  and  will  per- 
haps repay  a  little  investigation. 

A  case  I  heard  of  the  other  day  will  illus- 
strate  my  meaning,  though  I  cannot  vouch  for 
its  truth,  since  my  informant  had  only  got  it 
himself  at  secondhand. 

The  very  big  head  of  a  very  big  business 
indeed  was  descending  the  staircase  of  his  very 
big  offices,  when  there  met  him  a  promising 
member  of  the  staff  who  had  only  recently 
joined  the  firm.  The  very  big  business  man 
greeted  his  employee  with  a  gracious  smile. 

11  Well,  Mr.  B.,"  he  said,  "  how  are  you  get- 
ting on?  Everything  all  right?  Quite  satisfied 
and  happy  ?  ' 

269 


270  What  of  To-Day? 

'  Very  much  so,  thank  you,"  answered  the 
other  guilelessly,  "I've  nothing  to  grumble 
about." 

"Quite  contented,  eh?" 

"  Quite,  thank  you." 

"Ah—  the  big  employer  drew  a  long 

breath.  "Well,  Mr.  B.,  I'm  sorry,  but  I'm 
afraid  you  won't  do  for  me.  I  want  men 
who  aren't  satisfied,  who  want  to  get  on,  who  are 
ambitious.  Good-day  to  you." 

And  the  unfortunate  man,  who  had  so 
thoughtlessly  given  expression  to  his  content- 
ment, duly  received  his  dismissal. 

That  is  the  spirit  of  the  age — the  "  get  on 
or  get  out"  idea — which  resents,  as  an  imper- 
tinence, the  presence  of  a  man  who  is  so  lost 
to  all  sense  of  self-respect  as  to  be  actually 
contented  with  his  lot.  The  confusion  of  our 
fretted  lives  is  reflected  in  a  confusion  of  thought 
which  makes  us  incapable  of  distinguishing  be- 
tween an  honourable  ambition  and  a  stupid 
discontent,  or  between  the  '  'umbleness  "  of  a 
Uriah  Heep  and  the  cheerful  contentment  of 
the  man  who  has  placed  his  affairs  in  the  hands 
of  a  Higher  Power. 

Thus  it  has  come  about  that  the  "  divine 
discontent"  that  is  everywhere  visible  to-day,  is 
actually  looked  upon  as  an  excellent  sign  of  the 
growing  desire  of  man  to  better  his  condition, 
to  make  progress.  Nothing,  in  point  of  fact, 
could  be  further  from  the  truth.  Our  discontent 


"Divine  Discontent"         271 

— that  discontent  of  which  we  are  beginning  to 
feel  quite  proud — is  not  to  be  mentioned  in 
the  same  breath  with  the  laudable  ambition 
which  everyone  of  us  ought  to  have,  to  do 
something  in  the  world  and  for  humanity  before 
we  are  called  away. 

Our  modern  discontented  frame  of  mind, 
then,  is  nothing  to  boast  about.  But  it  is  easy 
enough  to  diagnose  its  cause.  Ever  since  the 
middle  of  the  last  century  our  material  progress 
has  been  extraordinary,  but  can  anyone  affirm 
that  our  moral  and  religious  progress  has  kept 
pace  with  our  increased  comfort  and  prosperity  ? 
It  was  a  sort  of  maxim  with  the  early  Victorians 
that  people  would  become  better  as  they  grew 
more  prosperous.  Has  that  prediction  been  ful- 
filled in  any  appreciable  measure? 

Applied  Science  has  ministered  almost 
miraculously  to  the  wants  and  ills  of  man's  body, 
but  it  has  never  got  the  entr€e  to  the  sanctuary 
of  his  soul.  In  the  laboratory  there  is  nothing  to 
neutralise  the  deadly  poison  of  deadly  sins ;  in 
the  surgery  nothing  to  mitigate  the  agonies  of 
a  tortured  conscience ;  in  the  observatory  no- 
thing to  correct  the  aberrations  of  the  mind's 
fitful  gleams  of  light ;  in  the  photographer's 
dark  room  nothing  to  fix  with  permanence  the 
heights  and  beauty  of  virtue ;  in  the  dynamo- 
chamber  nothing  to  generate  zeal  for  God's 
glory  or  love  of  the  brotherhood  of  humanity. 

Is  it  cause  for  wonder  that  bitter  discontent 


272  What  of  To-Day  ? 

with  what  one  is,  and  what  one  has,  is  spread- 
ing amongst  us  with  results  far  more  fatal  to  the 
community  than  either  cancer  or  consumption? 
Do  we  ask  why  man  is  wandering  unsatisfied 
in  the  spacious  palaces  of  his  new  material 
splendour?  There  is  no  other  reason,  there  can 
be  no  other  reason,  than  that  the  progress  of 
irreligion  has  evicted  him  from  the  City  of  God, 
leaving  his  soul  to  shiver  and  starve  on  the  rocks 
of  despair,  like  a  dog  for  whom  no  one  cares. 
Well  might  such  an  one  cry  out  with  Chateau- 
briand :  'Tell  me,  for  pity's  sake,  where  in 
the  fields  of  philosophy  to  which  you  drive  me, 
shall  I  find  a  family  or  a  God?" 

And  it  is  this  restless  spirit  of  discontent  on 
a  grand  scale  that  is  now,  I  would  have  you 
note,  being  lauded  and  approved  as  giving 
proof  of  an  intelligent  desire  on  the  part  of 
mankind  to  "  get  on."  If  our  present  discontent 
was  really  "  divine  "  ;  if  we  could,  for  a  moment 
even,  turn  our  attention  from  material  things 
and  examine  into  our  spiritual  state ;  if,  in  fine, 
we  would  acknowledge  to  ourselves  the  incon- 
testable fact  that,  in  casting  aside  Christianity, 
we  have  thrown  away  that  without  which  all 
the  wealth  of  the  world  is  of  no  value,  why 
then,  in  a  spirit  of  real  remorse  and  laudable 
discontent,  we  might  well  rejoice  to  have  re- 
cognised that  things  were  going  badly  with  us. 

That  is  the  only  sort  of  discontent  which 
the  Christian  can  or  ought  to  permit  himself  to 


"Divine  Discontent"         273 

feel.  Instead  of  letting  his  mind  be  lifted  up 
with  worldly  views  and  sordid  aims,  and  the 
pride  which  comes  from  getting,  and  the  vanity 
which  comes  from  possession,  and  the  deceit  which 
comes  from  boasting,  he  will  abase  himself,  and 
strike  his  breast,  and  do  penance.  Instead  of 
giving  way  to  his  passion  for  gain,  or  envy,  or 
carnal  self-indulgence,  lust  of  money,  lust  of 
the  flesh,  or  lust  for  any  of  the  vicious  pleasures 
of  this  life,  he  will  abase  himself,  and  strike  his 
breast,  and  do  penance.  Instead  of  trampling 
upon  the  weak  in  order  that  he  may  wax  strong, 
of  deriding  the  failure  of  his  brother  in  order 
that  he  may  have  greater  consideration  in  the 
eyes  of  the  world,  instead  of  accusing  his 
God  of  being  the  Author  of  the  evil  he  him- 
self has  wrought,  he  will  bow  down  his  head 
to  the  dust,  and  strike  his  breast,  and  do 
penance. 

Do  I  shock  the  ultra-delicate  sentiment  of 
our  over-refined  moderns  by  uttering  such 
words?  I  should  rejoice  to  think  I  could  stir 
their  long-dormant  consciences  by  galvanising 
them  into  any  sort  of  life.  But  "penance"  is 
a  word  that  is  fast  passing  out  of  common  use 
in  this  country.  The  notion  that  a  man>  how- 
ever irreligious  and  immoral  his  life  may  be, 
has  anything  to  be  ashamed  of,  is  quite  anti- 
quated. We  must  be  proud  of  our  manhood, 
stand  erect  before  God  Himself  (if  He  exists  at 
all),  and  prove  that  we  are  no  cringing  curs, 
s 


274  What  of  To-Day? 

but  men  who  realise  the  strength  and  splendoui 
of  their  nature.  That  is  the  latest  anti-Christian 
teaching. 

Ah,  let  us  by  all  means  be  proud  of  our 
manhood,  but  let  us  first  see  to  it  that  we  are 
so  living  that  we  have  a  right  to  be  proud  of 
it.  Let  the  virtuous  man  exult  in  his  virtue, 
but  is  the  vicious  man  equally  to  exult  in  his 
vice  ?  Is  the  wicked  man  to  glory  in  his 
wickedness,  or  boast  of  his  immorality  as  proof 
of  his  manhood  ? 

For  that  is  where  this  new  theory  logically 
lands  us,  with  the  natural  corollary  that  to 
repent,  to  do  penance,  to  bow  our  heads  in 
humility  for  our  sins  is  unmanly  and  feeble, 
and  shows  a  lack  of  proper  spirit.  No,  however 
discontented  we  may  be  with  our  position  in 
life,  our  place  in  the  world,  our  surroundings, 
our  lack  of  recognition,  we  must  not  on  any 
account  be  discontented  with  ourselves.  That 
is  the  modern  teaching.  Does  it  strike  you  as 
reasonable  ?  My  experience  goes  to  show  that 
in  the  measure  in  which  a  man  has  lofty 
and  holy  aspirations  he  is,  I  do  not  say 
discouraged,  but  disappointed,  discontented 
even  with  his  best  efforts  to  live  up  to  them. 
Conscious  of  his  frailty,  he  humbly  thanks 
God  that  he  is  not  worse.  "But  for  Thy 
mercy  I  should  have  dwelt  in  hell." 


XXV 

THE  WOMAN   MOVEMENT 
I. — THE  SEX  WAR 

WOMAN  has  always  played  a  conspicuous  part  in 
the  history  of  this  planet — a  much  more  con- 
spicuous part,  indeed,  than  the  modern  repre- 
sentative of  the  sex  cares  to  admit.  Hitherto, 
however,  she  has  been  satisfied  to  remain  behind 
the  scenes,  pulling  the  strings  and  making  men, 
her  puppets,  dance  according  as  she  has  willed, 
in  the  eyes  of  the  world.  But  now  a  change 
has  come  over  the  spirit  of  her  dream,  she  has 
grown  restless  and  dissatisfied  with  her  position, 
she  is  crying  for  a  new  toy,  and  she  is  out  to 
get  it  by  any  means,  fair  or  unfair. 

For  my  part  I  think  a  great  deal  of  this  vague 
discontent  is  to  be  traced  to  the  spirit  of  revolt 
against  the  established  order  of  things  every- 
where observable  among  mankind.  Speaking 
generally,  woman  does  not  possess  the  creative 
or  pioneering  instinct  of  the  man.  She  is  con- 
tent, for  the  most  part,  to  follow  where  man 
leads,  and  is  it  not  significant  that  the  militant 
suffragettes  who  have  till  recently  been  "stagger- 
ing humanity  '  by  their  reckless  methods  of 

275 


276  What  of  To-Day? 

seeking  the  vote,  plead  the  example  of  men 
in  justification  of  their  mad  actions  ? 

This  consideration,  I  admit,  does  not  carry 
the  matter  much  farther  on  the  practical  side. 
If  it  be  true  that  the  spirit  of  the  age  is  the 
spirit  of  revolt,  we  have  still  to  ask  ourselves 
what  it  is  that  woman,  qua  woman,  is  endeav- 
ouring to  obtain  and  how  far  her  demands  are 
just,  and  to  what  extent  they  are  unwise  or 
worse.  It  will  not  do  to  dismiss  the  whole  move- 
ment as  a  mere  question  whether  women  shall 
or  shall  not  have  the  vote.  The  vote  may 
stand  as  a  symbol  for  much,  but  in  itself  it  is 
relatively  insignificant.  Women  want  more — a 
great  deal  more — than  the  vote,  and  I  think  it 
is  worth  while  attempting  to  discover  the  real 
aims  of  the  movement  as  a  whole. 

Now  in  the  first  place  it  must  be  remembered 
that  this  is  an  imperfect  world,  and  that  we  all  of 
us — both  men  and  women — are  labouring  under 
many  grievances  and  many  injustices.  Look 
where  we  will,  we  see  suffering  and  tyranny  and 
oppression  on  all  sides  of  us.  Men,  no  less  than 
women,  and  women,  no  less  than  men,  have 
much  to  bear  that  is  due  indirectly  to  the  cal- 
lousness and  the  cruelty  shown  by  their  fellows, 
and  it  is  surely  the  object  of  every  right-think- 
ing man  or  woman  to  lessen,  if  not  to  do  away 
altogether  with  burdens  which  man's  inhumanity 
to  man  has  laid  upon  the  world. 

There    are,  I   rejoice   to   think,  many   noble 


The  Woman  Movement     277 

spirits  whose  whole  lives  are  being  devoted  to 
this  end,  who  are  unselfishly  spending  their  days 
in  ministering  to  the  wants  of  their  unfortunate 
fellow-creatures  and  who  go  about  the  world  do- 
ing good  and  fighting  evil  wherever  they  find 
it.  But  these  people  would  be  the  last  to  pro- 
claim a  class  war,  or  a  sex  war,  or  enter  upon 
any  campaign  directed  against  a  particular 
section  of  society. 

This  is  where  the  protagonists  of  the  woman 
movement  have  fallen  into  a  deplorable  and 
hopeless  error.  With  a  sense  of  injustice  rank- 
ling in  their  minds,  and  labouring  under  certain 
disabilities  which  no  one  can  remove,  they  have, 
with  a  lack  of  logic  which  is  only  equalled  by 
their  want  of  common-sense,  declared  war 
against  man  !  They  will  not  be  satisfied  till 
they  have  pulled  man  down  from  the  pedestal 
on  which  the  wretched  fellow  has  had  the  au- 
dacity to  set  himself,  and  erected  thereon,  I 
suppose,  a  statue  of  the  Eternal  Feminine  as 
the  supreme  ruler  of  the  world. 

What  could  be  more  ludicrous  or  degrading, 
according  to  the  observer's  point  of  view,  than 
the  spectacle  of  a  lot  of  hysterical  women 
smashing  windows,  chaining  themselves  to  rail- 
ings, burning  houses — and,  alas,  churches  as  well 
— as  a  protest  against  "man-made  laws"?  I 
have  said  before  and  I  say  it  again,  this  is  not 
a  question  of  the  vote.  It  is  a  desperate  protest 
by  a  certain  section  of  undisciplined  women 


278  What  of  To-Day? 

against  the  fact  that  they  are  women.  They 
have  worked  themselves  up  into  a  state  of  blind 
resentment  against  authority,  human  and  divine, 
and  they  have  no  better  way  of  showing  it 
than  by  venting  their  uncontrolled  rage  on  the 
male  sex. 

They  want  neither  equality  with  man  nor 
the  chivalrous  deference  with  which  men  have 
treated  them  in  the  past.  They  want  to  be  re- 
cognised definitely  as  the  superior  sex,  and  that 
is  why  in  their  poor  confused  minds  they  have 
singled  out  man  as  the  enemy,  and  have  deter- 
mined to  make  him  acknowledge  their  suprem- 
acy. What  imaginary  wrongs  they  may  be 
labouring  under  it  is  bootless  to  inquire,  for  we 
may  be  certain  of  this,  that  if  women,  as  a  sex, 
were  so  oppressed  and  tyrannised  over  as  these 
viragoes  would  have  us  believe,  every  woman 
worthy  of  the  name  would  be  up  in  arms  against 
the  wrong-doers.  As  it  is,  I  have  heard  the  do- 
ings of  the  militants  condemned  in  far  more 
scathing  terms  by  women  than  I  have  ever 
heard  used  by  men. 

Their  real  grievance,  as  I  think,  is  just  that 
they  are  women,  while  they  scorn  to  be  womanly. 
This  modern  parody  of  a  woman,  who  screams 
from  the  top  of  a  cart  that  she  will  have  her 
rights,  and  who  mauls  policemen  like  a  wild 
thing  from  the  Zoo,  apes  everything  mannish. 
She  wants  to  dress  like  a  man,  stalk  about  and 
lounge  like  a  man,  smoke  and  drink  like  a  man, 


The  Woman  Movement     279 

talk  and  swear  like  a  man,  and  generally  to  be- 
have herself,  not  like  a  refined  lady,  but  like  an 
unrefined  man.  While  professing  to  hate  and 
despise  the  other  sex,  she  envies  man  the  very 
things  for  which  she  might  rightly  hold  him  in 
contempt.  She  wants  to  be  free  to  emulate  his 
vices,  to  enjoy  his  so-called  liberty  of  action,  to 
share  his  opportunities  for  degradation. 

The  sight  of  this  sort  of  woman  on  the  war- 
path, or  screaming  and  kicking  in  the  dock,  is 
very  painful  to  an  English  gentleman  taught  in 
the  old-fashioned  school  that  he  must  pay  defer- 
ence and  respect  to  women.  He  can  only  turn 
away  his  face  from  the  spectacle,  hoping  and 
praying  that  this  mad  desire  to  be  what  God 
never  intended  her  to  be  may  in  the  course  of 
time  pass  away  as  a  phase  of  lunacy  after  some 
nervous  strain. 

It  is  a  pity  that  the  man-mimicking  woman 
does  not  realise  that  if  she  insists  in  becoming 
unsexed  and  taking  man's  place  in  the  world, 
she  will  soon  meet  with  short  shrift  and  be 
treated,  not  like  a  gentlemanly  man,  but  like 
a  bounder.  I  know  that  it  is  a  common  pose  for 
women  of  this  sort  to  pretend  that  they  do  not 
want  the  respect  or  deference  which  men  are 
accustomed  to  pay  to  them,  that  they  ask  no 
other  treatment  from  men  than  that  which  men 
accord  to  each  other.  Yet  observe  the  incon- 
sistency of  the  creatures  !  If  a  mob,  roused  to 
indignation  and  thoroughly  exasperated  by  their 


28o  What  of  To-Day? 

extravagances,  venture  on  so  much  as  a  threaten- 
ing movement  in  their  direction, ^the  woman,  who 
but  a  moment  before  was  demanding  equality 
with  man,  instantly  takes  refuge  under  the  cloak 
of  her  sex,  and  taunts  her  hearers  with  cowardice 
for  lifting  a  hand  against  a  defenceless  female. 
If  she  is  arrested  and  dragged  off — I  use  the 
expression  advisedly,  for  it  is  part  of  the  militants' 
plan  of  campaign  to  give  as  much  trouble  as 
possible  on  these  occasions — if,  I  say,  she  is 
dragged  off  to  prison,  she  can  find  no  words 
strong  enough  to  condemn  the  "brutal"  police- 
men who  have  had  the  misfortune  to  be  com- 
pelled to  take  her  to  gaol.  As  for  the  scenes 
enacted  in  the  police-courts  by  these  furies, 
it  makes  one's  cheek  blush  with  shame  to 
read  of  them. 

"It  is  time  we  were  armed,"  declared  one 
of  them  not  long  ago  on  being  sent  to  prison 
with  the  option  of  a  fine,  and  cheers  from  the 
women  at  the  back  of  the  court  greeted  her 
remark.  No  comment  on  the  state  of  mind 
revealed  by  such  an  aspiration  is  necessary. 

The  utter  want  of  clear  thinking — to  name 
only  one  aspect  of  the  movement — which  char- 
acterised the  whole  of  the  militant  campaign  is 
shown  by  the  determination  of  the  women  con- 
cerned not  only  to  commit  crimes  but  to  claim 
exemption  from  punishment.  By  trading  on 
their  sex,  they  have  discovered  a  means  whereby 
they  can  assure  themselves,  no  matter  how  grave 


The  Woman  Movement     281 

their  offences,  of  escaping  all  unpleasant  conse- 
quences. They  can  pose  as  martyrs,  as  victims 
of  man's  tyrannical  cruelty  on  the  one  hand,  and, 
on  the  other,  thanks  solely  to  man's  dislike  of 
proceeding  to  extremities  against  a  woman,  they 
are  assured  of  immunity  from  the  usual  penalties 
that  follow  the  commission  of  crime.  They  have 
discovered,  in  short,  how  to  eat  their  cake  and 
have  it. 

As  an  instance  of  how  rapidly  mental  degene- 
ration sets  in  in  cases  of  this  sort,  let  me  relate 
the  gist  of  a  conversation  I  had  not  long  since 
with  a  respectable  Anglican  clergyman  who,  to 
my  astonishment,  manifested  no  small  measure 
of  sympathy  with  the  methods  of  the  militant 
suffragettes.  The  burning  down  of  churches  and 
the  disturbances  created  during  services  had,  I 
fancy,  aroused  some  misgivings  in  the  worthy 
man's  inner  conscience,  but  for  all  that  he  still 
solemnly  maintained  that,  on  the  whole,  their 
motives  were  entitled  to  respect,  though  at  times 
they  might  have  been  guilty  of  carrying  matters 
too  far. 

And  then,  to  my  amazement,  he  entered  into 
an  elaborate  comparison  between  the  Early 
Christians  and  the  mad  militants,  pointing  out 
how  in  each  case  a  small  band  of  enthusiasts  set 
out  to  convert  the  world,  caring  for  nothing  but 
that  their  views  should  prevail,  and  daring  ridicule, 
torture  and,  as  he  hinted,  death  itself  to  further 
the  cause  they  had  at  heart.  Such  an  argument, 


282  What  of  To-Day? 

however  irrational  in  itself,  might  have  been 
intelligible  in  the  mouth  of  one  to  whom  religion 
meant  nothing,  and  to  whom  Christ  was  but  a 
name.  Coming,  as  it  did,  from  one  who  had 
pretensions  to  direct  the  spiritual  welfare  of 
many  souls,  it  was  both  painful  and  shocking. 

I  will  not  insist  on  the  complete  want  of 
understanding  of  what  Christianity  implies  which 
is  involved  in  such  a  position.  My  readers  are 
capable  of  appreciating  that  for  themselves. 
That  a  clergyman  of  the  Church  of  England 
should  father  such  sentiments  makes  the  case 
all  the  sadder.  But  putting  this  aside  for  the 
moment,  and  apart  from  all  question  of  the 
rights  or  wrongs  of  woman,  we  may  well  be  aston- 
ished when  we  are  asked  to  regard  as  "  martyrs  " 
those  who,  after  committing  sacrilege,  arson  and 
other  crimes,  refuse  to  take  the  consequences 
of  their  acts.  I  have  yet  to  learn  that  the 
Christian  martyrs  after  offending,  as,  humanly 
speaking,  they  did  offend,  against  the  laws  of  the 
Roman  Empire  by  refusing  to  sacrifice  to  idols, 
ever  protested  by  word  or  deed  against  the 
sufferings  they  had  to  endure.  They  did  their 
best  to  open  the  eyes  of  their  persecutors  as  to 
what  they  were  doing,  but,  for  the  rest,  they 
faithfully  imitated  the  example  of  their  Divine 
Master,  and  the  words  on  their  lips  as  they 
died  were  ever  the  same  :  "  Father,  forgive  them, 
for  they  know  not  what  they  do." 

Let   us   hear   no   more   then  of  this  canting 


The  Woman  Movement      283 

nonsense  concerning  i4  martyrdom."  For  my 
part  I  consider  the  meanest  criminal  in  revolt 
against  society,  who  knows  and  is  prepared  to 
accept  the  consequences  of  his  crime,  a  better 
specimen  of  the  race  than  the  wild  women  who 
in  their  frenzied  insanity  go  raging  up  and 
down  the  country  in  a  senseless  endeavour  to 
prove  the  justice  of  their  demands  by  inflicting 
injustice  and  loss  on  others.  Wonderful  to 
narrate,  we  seem  to  know  how  to  conduct  a 
world-wide  war  but  are  helpless  when  attacked 
by  the  vicious  suffragette.  Well  may  England 
in  her  dilemma  have  been  the  laughing-stock  of 
Europe.  'Why,"  they  used  to  exclaim  on  the 
Continent,  "  they  are  afraid  in  England  of  a 
militant  girl;  she  defies  a  whole  Government." 

II. — LUST  AND  LICENCE 

THERE  is  one  aspect  of  the  woman  question 
which  no  one  who  calls  himself  a  Christian,  or 
who  holds  firmly  by  the  truths  of  the  father- 
hood of  God  and  the  brotherhood  of  man,  can 
fail  to  regard  with  grave  apprehension.  The 
particular  views  put  forward  by  the  more  "ad- 
vanced" women  have  not — I  rejoice  to  be  able 
to  think  and  say  it — made  much  headway  in  this 
country.  But  no  one  can  deny  that  they  have 
gained  some  sort  of  footing  among  a  certain 
section  of  women,  even  here,  and  no  priest 
would  be  worthy  of  his  office,  no  Christian 


284  What  of  To-Day  ? 

worthy  to  call  himself  such,  who  did  not  issue 
the  strongest  protest  and  the  most  solemn 
warning  against  such  fatal  errors,  when  oppor- 
tunity served. 

The  advocates  of  Women's  Rights,  if  I 
understand  them  properly,  have  been,  like  a  great 
many  men,  by  the  way,  agitating  for  emancipa- 
tion, for  freedom.  Well,  that  word  "freedom" 
is  a  rather  nebulous  expression,  and  Heaven 
forbid  that  I,  or  anyone  else,  should  deny  to 
any  single  woman  such  a  legitimate  measure 
of  liberty  as  will  enable  her  to  exercise  all  her 
talents,  to  express  her  whole  character  as  fully 
as  her  nature  will  allow. 

Her  demand  for  the  vote,  for  higher  wages, 
for  greater  opportunity,  for  a  wider  education, 
for  less  dependence  upon  man ;  all  these  things 
may  be  right  or  they  may  be  wrong.  It  is  not 
for  me  to  say.  But  I  have  something  to  say 
to  woman,  and  very  emphatically,  too,  when  she 
passes  from  such  demands  as  these  and  begins 
to  question  the  sacramental  character  of  marriage, 
the  value  of  religion,  the  foundations  of  Chris- 
tianity itself. 

If  anything  could  ruin  this  Woman  Movement, 
one  would  have  thought,  it  would  be  this  attack 
on  the  sanctity  of  the  home,  this  open  and 
shocking  declaration  of  war  on  morality,  this 
shameful  and  unashamed  advocacy  of  the  dia- 
bolical doctrine  of  free  love.  That  women 
should,  in  a  moment  of  passion,  yield  to  temp- 


The  Woman  Movement      285 

tation  and  fall  is  bad  enough ;  that  our  civilisa- 
tion should  be  unable  to  grapple  with  the  terrible 
problem  to  which  the  streets  of  every  town  in 
the  kingdom  bear  witness,  is  ten  times  more 
deplorable  ;  but  that  any  women  could  be  found 
in  the  length  and  breadth  of  Christendom  to 
argue,  on  intellectual  grounds,  calmly  and  in  no 
sudden  gust  of  passion,  in  favour  of  a  State- 
recognised  and  promiscuous  intercourse,  is  so 
awful,  so  hideous  a  phenomenon  of  our  moder- 
nity that  the  brain  reels  in  contemplating  the 
consequences — even  the  worldly  consequences — 
of  so  ghastly  and  so  miserable  an  error. 

Yet  it  is  true.  Nor  are  these  things  whis- 
pered quietly  in  private  rooms  behind  locked 
doors.  They  are  proclaimed  unblushingly  from 
the  housetops,  from  public  platforms,  in  lecture 
halls,  in  books,  in  papers,  in  novels  written  for 
the  purpose,  in  every  way  that  ingenuity  can 
suggest  to  reach  the  mind  of  the  public.  Woman 
must  be  free — free  from  the  shackles  of  a  mis- 
guided past,  free  from  the  tyranny  of  man,  free — 
the  horrible  blasphemy  of  it ! — from  the  despotism 
of  God !  She  must  be  free  to  go  her  own  wild 
road,  free  to  trample  in  the  dust  the  stainless 
flower  of  her  own  purity,  free  to  fall  lower 
than  man  himself  has  fallen  and  free  to  drag 
him  down  from  toiling  up  those  heights  which 
it  should  be  her  pride  and  joy,  as  it  is  her 
God-given  mission,  to  help  him  to  scale. 

Man  and  woman  were  made  to  be  the  com- 


286  What  of  To-Day? 

plemcnt  of  each  other,  and  just  as  man  is,  on 
the  whole,  intellectually  and  physically  the 
superior,  so  woman  is,  morally  and  spiritually, 
finer  than  man.  If  wilfully  and  deliberately  she 
flings  aside  this  priceless  quality  by  virtue  of 
which  she  rules  the  home  and  tames  the  fiercer 
nature  of  man,  and  teaches  him  to  look  up 
with  her  to  higher  things,  how  can  she  do 
otherwise  than  fall  far  below  his  own  poor  level 
in  every  respect? 

Women  who,  slandering  their  own  woman- 
hood, preach  such  doctrines  are — I  say  it  deliber- 
ately— infinitely  worse  than  the  poor  Magdalens 
of  the  streets.  Yet  this  pernicious,  this  criminal 
theory  of  Free  Love  has  been  defended — and  by 
women — on  the  ground  that  we  should  hear  no 
more  of  women  selling  their  bodies  to  gain  a 
livelihood,  if  leasehold  unions  were  recognised  by 
the  State  and  by  public  opinion  as  lawful  and 
decent.  From  the  muddle-mindedness,  the 
almost  incurable  lack  of  moral  perspective  re- 
vealed by  such  an  argument,  one  recoils  in 
despair. 

Thank  God,  such  views  are  not  common 
among  even  the  most  clamorous  of  our  own 
advanced  countrywomen.  But  there  is  on  the 
other  hand  a  tendency  which  one  cannot  but 
deplore,  to  belittle  marriage,  to  sneer  at  the 
home,  and  to  speak  slightingly  of  the  house- 
hold duties  in  which  so  many  women  find  the 
pleasure,  as  well  as  the  labour,  of  their  lives. 


The  Woman  Movement      287 

This  tendency — not,  be  it  observed,  actually 
connected  with  ideas  of  illicit  love — is,  I  fear, 
spreading  amongst  those  Englishwomen  who 
are  not  satisfied  with  their  present  status.  Most 
of  them,  I  rejoice  to  admit,  would  recoil  with 
horror  at  the  suggestion  that  they  advocated 
Free  Love  in  any  shape.  Yet  I  would  put  this 
consideration  before  them.  If  they  are  con- 
tinually accustoming  themselves,  their  readers, 
their  hearers,  or  their  associates,  to  dwell  on  the 
"drudgery"  of  housewifely  duties,  to  regard 
the  bearing  and  rearing  of  children  as  no  fit 
task  for  an  intellectual  woman,  and  finally,  to 
think  and  talk  of  the  marriage  state  as  carrying 
with  it  some  sort  of  implication  of  inferiority 
or  slavery  for  the  woman,  how  long,  I  ask,  will 
it  be  before  such  thoughts  insensibly  develop 
into  a  mental  attitude  similar  to  that  I  have 
already  referred  to  ? 

The  woman  who  ceases  to  look  on  marriage 
as  a  sacrament  and  the  duties  it  entails  as  high 
and  holy  ones,  soon  comes  to  regard  it  as  a  mere 
conventional  institution,  which  may  be  dispensed 
with  or  not,  according  to  the  convenience  of 
the  man  and  woman  concerned. 

This  is  one  terrible  danger  of  the  Woman 
Movement — the  precipice  towards  which  women 
may,  all  unthinkingly,  be  going.  I  do  not  ask 
them  to  become  slaves  to  men,  I  do  not  even 
ask  them  to  forgo  their  demand  for  a  vote, 
I  do  not  ask  them  to  abate  a  single  jot  of  their 


288  What  of  To-Day  ? 

legitimate  political  or  social  rights :  but  I  do 
beg  them,  most  seriously  and  solemnly,  to  look 
into  their  hearts  and  consider  well  every  step 
they  take  towards  whatever  degree  of  "free- 
dom "  they  are  aiming  at;  to  hold  counsel  very 
earnestly  with  their  consciences,  to  feel  sure 
that  what  they  are  doing  is  not  contrary  to  the 
dictates  of  religion,  and  finally,  to  take  heed 
that  in  the  heat  and  dust  and  excitement  of  the 
conflict  they  do  not  lose  sight  of  God's  own 
immutable  laws. 

If  man  transgresses,  is  that  a  reason  for 
woman  also  wishing  to  transgress  ?  Because 
man  is  vile,  is  woman  to  imitate  his  vileness? 
Or  shall  a  woman  prove  false  to  her  own  nature 
by  reason  of  man's  weakness  and  man's  folly? 
Will  she  not  rather  show  her  superiority  and 
vindicate  her  claim  to  be  considered  the  nobler 
sex  by  resisting  temptation,  by  helping  her 
fallen  brother  to  regain  his  manhood,  by  lead- 
ing him  gently  back  to  the  path  from  which 
he  has  strayed?  And  if,  conscious  of  her  own 
human  frailty,  she  pleads  that  she  cannot,  of 
herself,  do  these  things,  then  I  would  ask  her  to 
turn  for  help  and  strength  to  One  Who  has  yet 
never  failed  any  who  sought  His  aid,  and  to 
take  her  example  and  draw  her  inspiration 
from  the  Divine  Man,  Jesus  Christ  Himself, 
'Whom  I  have  seen,  Whom  I  have  loved,  in 
Whom  I  have  believed  and  in  Whom  1  have 
delighted." 


XXVI 
"REDEEM  THE  TIME" 

LIFE  is  a  matter  of  work  from  the  very  begin- 
ning. It  started  upon  that  plane  from  the  time 
of  our  first  parents,  and  to  the  end  of  the  world 
this  law  of  life  will  be  always  a  law  of  labour. 
And  this  law  having  been  imposed  upon  man 
in  the  beginning,  work  was  looked  upon, 
throughout  the  ancient  world,  as  a  curse.  So 
we  read  of  kings  and  emperors,  rulers  of 
Babylon,  Persia,  Greece  and  Rome  conceiving 
the  idea  that  a  life  of  happiness  meant  a  life  of 
ordering  others  to  work  for  them,  while  they 
themselves  indulged  in  every  kind  of  luxury 
and  amusement,  with  the  result  that  in  the  end 
it  came  to  be  thought  that  only  those  who 
could  afford  to  be  idle  and  lead  a  leisured,  self- 
indulgent  life  were  happy,  and  that  any  man 
who  was  obliged  to  work  must  be  miserable. 

Then  came  our  divine  Lord,  the  great 
Master,  and  it  was  for  Him,  Who  is  not  only 
the  holiest  of  the  holy,  but  the  wisest  of  the 
wise  and  the  mightiest  of  the  mighty,  to  choose 
the  best  state  of  life.  He  chose  a  life  of  labour. 
He  came  to  work  with  His  hands ;  He  laboured 

T  289 


29o  What  of  To-Day  ? 

with  the  sweat  falling  from  His  brows ;  He 
baptised  labour  and  transformed  it  from  a 
penalty  to  a  privilege.  And  since  then  men 
have  always  spoken  of  the  dignity  of  labour. 
Christ  glorified  work,  and  His  Church,  following 
His  example,  and  taking  up  the  tools  and  im- 
plements of  service,  teaches  men  to  work  with 
their  hands  and  with  their  minds,  to  employ 
themselves  in  manual  and  mental  labour. 

Was  it  not  the  Church  of  Christ  that  in  the 
Middle  Ages  organised  labour  by  Christian 
guilds  for  the  production  and  promotion  of 
arts  and  crafts  ?  And  throughout  those  ages, 
did  not  the  Church  stand  up  as  the  champion 
of  the  working  man,  the  defender  of  the  de- 
fenceless? Did  she  not  always  and  everywhere 
drive  home  the  lesson  that  all  working  men 
have  a  right  to  a  living  wage,  and  that  slavery 
and  serfdom  must  be  swept  away  out  of  the 
land  in  which  Christ  was  to  rule  as  Lord  and 
Master?  It  is  the  constant  teaching  of  the 
Church  that  we  are  all  members  of  one  great 
social  organism,  and  she  unswervingly  supports 
the  principle  that  each  should  work  for  the 
good  of  the  whole. 

It  is  the  function  of  all  religion  to  get  this 
great  altruistic  principle  accepted,  and  the  way 
to  set  about  it  is  to  see  that  our  own  work  is 
done  honestly,  efficiently,  and  above  all  thor- 
oughly. There  are  many  who  can  claim  to  be 
making  money,  and  who  are  doing  well  and 


"Redeem  the  Time"        291 

getting  on  in  the  world's  estimation,  but  how 
many  are  there  who  can  truthfully  aver  that  they 
are  "thorough"  in  all  that  they  undertake  ?  On 
every  rung  of  the  social  ladder  there  are  only 
too  many  inefficient  characters,  too  readily  satisfied 
with  inefficient  work.  "  Efficiency  "  should  be 
the  Englishman's  motto  in  every  walk  of  life 
and  in  every  department  of  his  country's  service. 
Alas,  there  has  been  a  plentiful  lack  of  it  every- 
where, and  it  has  needed  a  convulsion  like  the 
present  catastrophic  war  to  shock  the  country 
into  action. 

Egoism  is  playing  havoc  with  altruism.  All 
are  too  much  like  children  in  a  hurry  to  win 
the  prizes  of  life,  and  in  the  rush  for  dividends 
men  trample  one  another  down  without  pity 
and  without  remorse.  They  offer  the  lame  ex- 
cuse that  competition  in  business  is  too  keen, 
and  the  margin  of  profit  too  fine,  for  them  to 
pause  and  consider  what  is  right  and  what  is 
wrong,  and  the  consequence  is  that  work  is  in- 
efficiently done,  because  done  by  men  inefficient 
in  character. 

Thoroughness  is  the  only  straight  road  to 
the  only  sort  of  success  worth  having.  An  in- 
dividual, like  a  nation,  may  for  a  time  succeed 
by  trickery  and  superficiality,  but  in  the  long 
run  the  man  who  is  thorough  in  the  thing  to 
which  he  is  devoting  his  energies  is  the  one 
who  will  not  only  come  out  on  top,  but  who 
will  stay  there. 


What  of  To-Day? 

Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  was  one  day  asked  by 
an  ambitious  young  artist  the  secret  of  his  suc- 
cess. "Thoroughness,"  was  the  reply;  "I 
always  paint  my  best." 

"Do  you  know  what  has  led  me  to  success 
in  war?"  asked  the  Napoleon  in  conversation 
with  his  staff.  "Attention  to  details." 

There  is  a  time-honoured  maxim  that  what 
is  worth  doing  is  worth  doing  well.  That  rule 
applies  to  every  career  and  to  every  action  that 
goes  to  build  it  up.  Every  brick  in  a  building 
has  its  right  place  and  its  right  setting,  and  the 
perfect  adjustment  of  the  whole  can  only  result 
from  the  perfect  adjustment  of  its  constituent 
parts.  I  once  heard  of  a  builder  who  found  fault 
with  a  bricklayer  for  setting  bricks  too  close 
to  one  another. 

"Jack,"  said  he,  "that  work  won't  suit  me. 
Set  'em  more  free." 

"It's  the  only  work  that'll  suit  me,"  said 
the  bricklayer,  and  at  the  end  of  the  week  he 
found  himself  out  of  a  job.  Now  he  and  his 
employer  have  changed  places.  The  bricklayer 
is  a  well-to-do  builder,  but  his  former  master  is 
glad  of  any  odd  job  he  can  pick  up.  Depend 
upon  it  thoroughness  in  the  long  run  makes  its 
mark,  and  pays  a  good  dividend,  even  though 
for  the  moment  the  showy  and  superficial  work- 
man may  seem  to  prosper  better. 

It  is  a  thousand  pities  that  this  grand  prin- 
ciple is  not  more  generally  insisted  on  and 


"Redeem  the  Time"        293 

driven  home  to  the  rising  generation.  If  every 
child  were  made  to  realise  it  at  school  and  at 
home  there  would  not  be  so  many  to  say  later 
in  life,  "  Honesty  is  the  best  policy.  I  know, 
for  I  have  tried  both."  Unfortunately  it  is  a 
fact  that,  look  where  we  may,  we  find  evidence 
all  around  us  of  the  growing  tendency  towards 
lack  of  thoroughness.  Our  mahogany  is  thinly 
veneered,  our  cruet-stands  lightly  plated.  Not 
only  are  the  finest  figs  at  the  top  of  the  box, 
and  the  biggest  strawberries  on  the  surface  of 
the  basket,  but  protestations  of  honesty  are  too 
often  found  only  on  the  tips  of  the  lips.  The 
man  who  is  "thorough"  through  and  through 
is  becoming  a  rara  avis. 

More  than  ever  "  things  are  not  what  they 
seem."  We  are  given  uniforms  that  will  not 
last,  cotton  prints  that  will  not  hold  their 
colour,  patent  leathers  that  crack,  umbrellas  that 
gape,  and  watches  that  only  go  when  you  shake 
them.  But,  worse  than  all,  we  find  a  deplor- 
able number  of  people  who  are  as  slack  in  their 
work  as  these  objects  are  useless  for  their  pro- 
fessed purpose,  and  who  are  surprised  because 
they  do  not  "get  on."  The  truth  is  that  when 
experience  teaches  buyers  that  there  is  more 
slack  than  cobs  in  their  coal,  more  paper  than 
leather  in  their  boots,  more  shoddy  than  cloth 
in  their  coats,  they  usually  change  their  coal- 
merchant,  bootmaker,  or  tailor,  as  the  case  may 
be. 


294  What  of  To-Day? 

When  shopkeepers  are  discovered  selling 
margarine  for  butter,  or  the  ancient  lays  of 
Limerick  for  new-laid  eggs,  they  are  heavily 
fined,  and  it  would  be  very  serviceable  to  the 
public  if  that  system  of  fining  could  be  applied 
not  only  to  the  false  labelling  of  perishable 
goods,  but  also  to  the  inefficient  doing  of 
perishable  work.  It  is  said  of  plumbers,  in  a 
certain  portion  of  the  globe  not  to  be  named, 
that  they  never  do  one  job  without  making 
another.  This,  no  doubt,  shows  a  fine  spirit  of 
work,  but  it  is  not  a  practice  which  should  be 
resorted  to  without  the  entire  approval  of  the 
party  who  has  to  pay  for  it. 

What  people  really  appreciate  is  having 
some  security  that  they  are  getting  what  they 
pay  for.  If  they  pay  for  a  thoroughly  good 
article  or  thoroughly  good  work,  they  expect 
and  want  their  money's  worth.  That  is  a  rule 
which  knows  no  exception.  It  matters  not 
whether  the  thing  takes  the  form  of  groceries, 
millinery,  or  medicine,  or  sweeping  or  serving, 
the  master  or  buyer  looks  to  "  thoroughness"  as 
a  test  of  efficiency. 

Everyone,  it  is  true,  cannot  work  equally 
well.  There  are  no  two  hands  or  heads  or 
faces  exactly  alike,  and  so  neither  are  there  two 
workers  equally  capable,  but  everyone  can,  at 
least,  give  of  his  best.  We  are  not  all  gifted 
with  the  cleverness  of  the  American  mechanic, 
who  declared  he  had  constructed  a  scarecrow 


"Redeem  the  Time"        295 

which  was  so  effective  that  it  frightened  every 
bird  in  the  district  into  bringing  back  every 
grain  of  corn  stolen  thence  during  the  previous 
year,  but  we  are  all  clever  enough  not  to  steal 
our  employer's  time  and  not  to  let  others  steal 
it.  Nor  need  we  undertake  any  work  unless 
we  mean  to  do  it  as  thoroughly  as  we  can. 
Not  all  of  us  can  say  with  Ruskin  :  "I  never 
write  about  anything  except  what  I  know  more 
of  than  most  other  people,"  but  everyone  can 
and  ought  to  say  :  "I  never  set  about  doing 
anything  except  what  I  can  do  as  well  as,  or 
better  than,  most  other  people." 

It  would  be  well  if  we  took  to  heart  and  put 
into  practice  the  words  spoken  of  Ezechia : 
"And  in  every  work  that  he  did  ...  he  did 
it  with  all  his  heart  and  prospered." 

There  you  have  before  you  the  example 
which  merited  and  won  true  prosperity.  And 
yet  Ezechia  had  the  infamous  example  of  his 
father,  Achaz,  before  him,  and  lived  his  life  in 
an  atmosphere  laden  with  the  abominations  of 
Oriental  idolatry.  But  instead  of  yielding  to  his 
environment,  instead  of  submitting  fatalistically 
to  the  influence  of  his  surroundings,  he  chose 
to  become  the  architect  of  circumstances.  And 
so  God  was  with  him,  and  "Ezechia  prospered 
in  all  his  works." 

Because  you  happen  to  be  thrown  in  the 
company  of  men  who  are  not  thorough-going, 
that  is  no  reason  why  you  should  take  their 


296  What  of  To-Day? 

arms  and  share  their  slipshod  ways.  Give  them 
a  lead.  From  the  experience  I  have  had  of 
successful  men  in  a  large  commercial  city,  I  am 
satisfied  that  most  of  them  have  started  in  the 
race  of  life  very  heavily  handicapped.  It  was 
by  dint  of  pluck  and  energy  and  enterprise — in 
a  word,  by  their  thoroughness — that  they  mounted 
step  by  step  the  ladder  of  prosperity.  As  a  rule 
the  man  who  is  born  "with  a  silver  sp  >on  in 
his  mouth"  trusts  too  much  to  the  spoon  and 
too  little  to  business,  and  he  often  ends  by 
losing  both.  He  pawns  the  one  and  ruins  the 
other.  Not  long  ago  a  millionaire  was  reminded 
by  an  elderly  business  man  that,  as  an  errand 
boy,  his  boots  used  to  be  cleaned  by  him. 

"Yes,"  said  the  man  of  millions,  "and 
didn't  I  make  them  shine?"  That  was  the 
secret  of  his  success — thoroughness. 

It  is  this  thoroughness  that  England  needs 
so  sorely  to-day  in  all  her  sons,  and  not  in  a 
select  few  whom  we  can  point  to  and  hold  up 
for  admiration  to  the  rest  of  the  world.  Thor- 
oughness in  religion,  thoroughness  in  work, 
thoroughness  in  all  things.  The  greatness  of 
the  Empire  does  not  depend  on  the  vastness  of 
its  population,  or  its  fabulous  wealth,  but  on 
this — that  its  sons  be  ever  upright,  honourable, 
loyal  and  true.  Are  not  all  these  qualities  in- 
cluded in  that  word  "thorough"? 

If  her  Empire  is  to  stand,  England  must  ask 
much  to-day  from  all  her  sons,  not  only  from 


"Redeem  the  Time"         297 

those  who  are  more  especially  dedicated  to  her 
service.  She  needs  sons  who  will  be  thorough  in 
doing  their  duty,  who  will  strain  like  hounds  at 
the  leash  to  get  at  the  work  she  asks  from  them. 
She  needs,  and  never  more  than  to-day,  empire 
supporters  as  well  as  empire  builders,  men 
whose  feet  are  on  the  earth,  but  whose  brows 
touch  the  stars.  She  needs  citizens  on  whom 
she  can  rely,  whom  she  can  trust  because  they 
have  proved  their  strength  by  their  thoroughness. 
She  wants  no  rotters,  no  loafers,  no  slackers,  no 
shirkers  of  work.  England  wants  men  who 
refuse  to  be  beaten,  men  of  grit,  men  of  enthu- 
siasm, without  which  life  is  but  a  poor  limp 
affair. 

And  what  of  that  greater  empire — the  em- 
pire of  God  ?  Whether  we  like  it  or  not, 
whether  we  believe  it  or  not,  we  are  all  citizens 
of  that  supernatural  empire,  and  it  is  only  by 
our  own  act  that  we  can  throw  away  that  birth- 
right. As  members  of  a  Christian  community, 
it  is  not  for  us  to  shirk  the  combat.  We  have 
to  be  thorough  in  this  matter  as  in  all  others, 
to  try  to  live  up  to  the  spiritual  ideal  every  day 
and  all  day,  and  not  pack  our  religion  away  in 
cold  storage  during  the  week,  to  be  brought 
out  for  an  hour  or  two  on  Sundays.  Cold 
storage  goods  lose  their  flavour  and  nourishing 
power. 

Be  thorough  in  this  business  of  your  spiritual 
life  and  you  will  be  thorough  in  smaller  things. 


298  What  of  To-Day? 

Be  true  to  God  in  daily  life,  no  matter  who 
else  proves  false.  Beware  of  a  wasted  life — 
wasted  hours — wasted  opportunities.  Think  of 
Dives — think  of  the  careless  wedding  guest — the 
idle  servant — the  foolish  virgins,  all  lost  for 
wasted  opportunities.  Be  thorough.  Give  God 
work  and  He  will  give  you  rest.  Give  God 
time  and  He  will  give  you  Eternity. 


XXVII 
THE  SELF-CENTRED  LIFE 

ONE  of  the]  chief  characteristics  of  the  present 
age  is  its  hatred  of  restriction.  People  strain  at 
ties  which  should  be  held  sacred,  and  break 
the  bonds  which  should  be  binding.  They  make 
a  mockery  of  the  promises  of  baptism,  and  shame 
their  marriage  vows  without  a  thought.  There 
are  many  who  practically  live  without  principles 
at  all.  The  whim  of  the  moment,  the  fancy  of 
the  hour,  decides  their  course  of  action.  They 
live  according  to  fashion.  There  is  no  method 
in  their  lives,  their  only  aim  is  to  "kill  time." 
Think  of  it !  To  kill  the  golden  moments  that 
are  slipping  by,  and  bringing  Eternity  nearer  to 
each  one  of  us. 

"Every  day  that  is  born  into  the  world," 
wrote  Carlyle,  "comes  like  a  burst  of  music,  and 
rings  itself  the  way  through ;  and  you  may  make 
it  a  dance,  a  dirge,  or  a  life-march,  as  you  will." 
What  a  pity  that  more  of  us  do  not  strive  to  make 
of  it  a  life-march !  Yet  how  many  there  are  who, 
waking  to  the  sweet  dawn,  roll  over  on  their 
pillow  and  seek  the  sleep  of  oblivion,  because 
a  longer  sleep  will  help  the  boring  day  to  pass 

299 


300  What  of  To-Day? 

more  quickly!  They  waste  a  precious  morning 
over  some  scandal  in  their  daily  paper,  or,  with 
a  scrofulous  novel  in  their  hands,  forget  the  hour 
of  rising,  and  stay  in  bed  till  noon. 

The  calls  of  their  household,  social  and  re- 
ligious duties,  are  forgotten  or  ignored,  because 
some  passing  whim  has  magnetised  them.  Night 
comes  and,  having  managed  somehow  or  other 
to  get  through  the  day,  they  seek  some  violent 
pleasure,  some  soul-deadening  and  sense-excit- 
ing enjoyment,  and  so  go  on  killing  time  till 
they  have  killed  a  glorious  Eternity. 

There  are  many  so-called  men  who  lead  such 
lives,  and  there  are  women,  especially  women 
in  society — rich,  idle,  voluptuous — who  com- 
mand what  they  want  by  the  small  exertion  of 
pressing  a  button.  And  these  men  and  women 
might,  if  they  liked,  grow  into  fine,  noble,  inspir- 
ing characters.  The  thought  is  enough  to  make 
the  very  angels  weep. 

"How  easy,"  sighed  Becky  Sharp,  "it  is  to 
be  good  on  five  thousand  a  year."  And  how 
easy,  how  fatally  easy,  it  is  to  be  anything  but 
good  on  the  same  sum !  And  why  is  this  ?  Is 
it  not  because  self-indulgence  takes  the  place 
of  self-denial? 

All  classes,  I  am  afraid,  share  in  a  degree  in 
this  cult  of  self-indulgence,  this  horror  of  discip- 
line. But  it  is  the  rich,  in  particular,  I  blame. 
For  it  is  theirs  to  set  an  example,  to  create  a 
fashion  which  others  readily  follow.  Yet  how 


The  Self-centred  Life        301 

many  of  them,  instead  of  realising  their  responsi- 
bilities in  this  matter,  make  it  their  whole  aim 
to  revel  in  pleasure,  like  pigs  in  a  sty.  They 
have  no  thought  of  anything  beyond  this  present 
life.  They  are  constantly  in  search  of  something 
to  tingle  their  nervous  system,  to  excite  them 
and  take  them  out  of  themselves.  Even  so,  they 
can  find  no  happiness  in  their  pleasure-seeking, 
oblivion-hunting,  weary  life.  Such  people  are 
less  happy  in  reality  than  the  man  who  keeps 
his  crossing  clean,  or  the  woman  who  goes  out 
charing  to  keep  a  roof  over  her  head. 

The  truth  is — and  it  is  well  that  we  should 
recognise  it — that  we  are  living  in  a  world  which 
shirks  its  obligations,  which  acknowledges  no 
duties ;  a  world  which  loves  only  softness  and 
pleasure.  Lapdogs  of  luxury  are  everywhere. 
Immorality  is  sucking  at  the  heart  of  England's 
manhood,  and  vice  is  gnawing  at  the  vitals  of 
the  nation. 

I  have  said  that  for  this  state  of  things  I  put 
the  responsibility  mainly  on  the  rich,  and  on 
those  who  lead  and  have  it  in  their  power  to 
guide  the  mass  of  their  fellow  countrymen. 

How,  indeed,  can  we  blame  the  working 
classes  for  not  recognising  that  discipline  and 
self-denial  are  duties  a  man  owes  to  himself,  his 
fellows,  and  his  country,  when  so  many  examples 
of  slackness  and  idleness  and  worse  are  contin- 
ually to  be  seen  around  him? 

It  is  a  common   complaint  in  certain  circles 


302  What  of  To-Day  ? 

that  what  we  call  the  lower  classes  arc  degen- 
erating, and  in  particular,  that  they  are  given  to 
"aping  their  betters."  For  my  part,  I  cannot 
see  what  great  harm  there  would  be  in  that,  if 
only  these  same  "betters"  would  set  an  example 
worth  following.  For  in  all  societies,  the  majority 
— such  is  the  weakness  of  human  nature — live 
according  to  the  fashion  set  them  by  those  whom 
circumstances  have  placed  in  a  position  to  influ- 
ence others.  It  matters  not  whether  the  com- 
munity be,  politically  speaking,  an  aristocracy,  a 
plutocracy,  or  a  democracy.  The  few  lead,  the 
many  follow. 

Unhappily,  too,  while  the  open  display  of 
luxury  and  self-indulgence  acts  like  a  magnet 
in  attracting  weaker  spirits,  the  example  of  a 
virtuous  life  is  not  so  readily  followed.  Vice 
lends  itself  to  gossip  and  smart  talk ;  virtue  is 
voted  a  boring  subject  of  conversation,  and  there 
fore  even  a  comparatively  small  vicious  set  has 
immeasurably  greater  influence  on  the  more 
ignorant  than  the  example  of  many  decent-living 
men  can  have. 

It  is  then,  I  repeat,  worse  than  useless  to 
expect  self-discipline,  self-restraint,  self-reverence 
from  the  mass  of  the  people  in  the  face  of  such 
open  scandals  as  are  daily  reported  by  the  Press, 
such  scenes  of  flagitious  and  riotous  living  as 
anyone  with  eyes  to  see  cannot  help  witnessing 
all  around  him 

Nor  is  it  only  in  great  matters  that  this  self- 


The  Self-centred  Life       303 

indulgent    spirit   is    manifested.     In    every    little 
detail  our  lives  are  made  smoother  and  more  com- 
fortable.    The  luxuries  of  one  generation,  so  we 
often  hear,  are  the   necessities  of   the  next,  and 
material   progress    naturally    accustoms   us   to   a 
mode  of  living  that  our  forefathers  would   have 
thought  incredibly  soft  and  effeminate.     But  this, 
so  far  from  being  an  excuse  for  still  further  self- 
indulgence,  should  surely  brace  us  up  to  disci- 
pline more  firmly  our  moral  fibre.     It  is  nothing 
against  a  man  that  he  possesses  and  uses  a  motor- 
car to  help  him  to  get  through  his  business  and 
his  duties  more  quickly  and  effectively.     Yet  it  is 
undeniable  that  this  invention,  admirable  if  made 
use  of  in  a  proper  way,  may,  like  so  many  other 
luxuries,  become  the  medium  of   a  soul-stifling 
self-indulgence  that  eventually  will  overpower  all 
the  strength  of  a  man's   nature,  and   leave   him 
nothing  but  a  worn-out  shell,  with  all  the  vitality, 
the  life,  the  soul  of  him  sucked  dry.     The  very 
fact  that  our  modern  conditions  tend  to  become 
more    comfortable   and    easy   every  year   should 
nerve  us  to  exert  all  our  will  against  this  degener- 
ation of  soul  and  body.     After  all,  the  Spartans 
and  Stoics  of  old  had  a  nobler,  if  still  mistaken, 
ideal  than  our  luxury-loving  moderns. 

Hard  of  body,  firm  of  mind  and  strong  of 
spirit — that  is  what  I  would  wish  every  English 
man  to  be.  And  I  know  of  no  better  way  to 
attain  these  objects  than  by  fashioning  one's  life 
according  to  the  teaching  handed  down  by  the 


3o4          What  of  To-Day? 

Church  through  so  many  centuries.  The  truly 
religious  man  is  the  man  who  seeks  to  fulfil, 
to  the  best  of  his  ability,  his  duties  towards  God, 
his  neighbour,  and  himself.  And  does  not  the 
fulfilment  of  these  duties  imply  an  obligation  to 
keep  oneself  healthy  in  soul,  mind  and  body, 
so  that  one  may  be  at  once  a  useful  citizen,  a 
helpful  neighbour,  and  a  perfected  man?  For 
the  moment  the  Empire  is  on  its  feet,  braced 
up,  inspired  by  the  Great  Peril.  May  it  never 
relapse,  never  tire  in  its  pursuit  of  what  is  right 
and  just,  and  in  its  resolve  to  be  deserving  of 
its  Christian  heritage. 


XXVIII 
THE   ARRIVAL  OF   DEMOCRACY 

THE  twentieth  century  is  already  well  advanced 
in  its  teens,  and  will  soon  be  entering  upon  its 
manhood.  And,  if  we  are  to  judge  by  the  signs 
and  portents  of  the  moment,  nothing  seems  more 
certain  than  that  this  century  will  witness  the 
full  assertion  of  its  power  by  Democracy. 

The  closing  years  of  the  eighteenth  century 
gave  birth  to  that  tremendous  cataclysm  which 
overthrew  for  ever  the  power  of  the  privileged 
classes  who  ruled  Europe,  and  was  not  without 
its  effect  even  in  this  country.  The  nineteenth 
century,  which  saw  man  making  such  marvellous 
conquests  over  nature  and  such  wonderful  pro- 
gress in  science,  industry  and  mechanical  inven- 
tions, saw  also  a  notable  change  in  the  political 
history  of  this  country.  To  me,  at  least,  the 
outstanding  fact  of  that  century  is  the  picture 
of  the  middle  class  rising  in  power,  asserting 
its  rights,  pushing  its  way  to  the  front,  making 
itself  seen  and  heard  and  felt,  and  in  turn  giving 
more  and  more  political  freedom  to  the  working 
class,  until  it  is  scarcely  an  exaggeration  to  say 
u  305 


so6  What  of  To-Day? 

that  this  latter  now  holds  in  its  hands  the  destinies 
of  the  nation. 

Democracy,  in  short,  has  arrived.  It  has 
come  like  the  tide,  gradually,  quietly,  slowly 
gathering  strength,  forcing  all  the  barriers  that 
once  shut  it  out,  breaking  them  down  and 
sweeping  them  away,  levelling  all  things  with 
resistless  energy. 

Democracy,  or  the  working  man,  if  you  like, 
has  come  in  borne  on  the  strong  arm  of  universal 
suffrage  and  universal  education.  He  has  come 
to  stay  because  he  has  the  strength  to  stay. 
Applied  science  has  brought  him  into  contact 
with  his  fellows  throughout  the  inhabited  globe. 
The  working  men  of  the  world  stand,  so  to 
speak,  face  to  face,  eye  to  eye,  hand  to  hand, 
and  with  hearts  responsive  to  one  another's  needs. 
Electricity,  steam  and  the  Press  have  put  them 
into  communication  with  one  another,  and  they 
not  only  know  what  they  want,  but  they  mean, 
by  legitimate  ways,  to  take  what  they  have  a 
right  to  demand. 

Universal  suffrage  has  put  into  the  hands  of 
the  working  man  a  weapon  which  makes  him 
a  potent  factor  in  political  evolution,  and  uni- 
versal education  is  teaching  him  how  to  use 
that  weapon.  As  we  look  around,  we  see  our 
brothers  of  the  wage-earning  classes  rising  up 
and  proclaiming  their  rights,  and  the  political 
parties  of  every  creed  offering  them  homage 
and  incense. 


The  Arrival  of  Democracy  307 

The  working  man  is  no  longer  the  ignorant 
labourer  of  fifty  years  ago.  He  reads,  and  reads 
intelligently,  and  now  that  he  has  got  political 
freedom  he  may  do  great  things  for  this  great 
Empire,  if  he  be  not  led  away  by  false  prophets, 
and  by  those  who  would  exploit  his  inexperience 
for  their  own  selfish  purposes.  For  Democracy, 
after  all,  is  entirely  inexperienced  in  the  proper 
exercise  of  the  enormous  power  which  has  been 
placed  in  its  hands.  Education  may  bring  know- 
ledge, but  it  does  not  necessarily  bring  wisdom, 
and  it  is  wisdom  of  which  the  working  man 
now  stands  in  such  pressing  need,  when  a 
hundred  clamouring  voices  are  calling  in  his 
ear,  a  hundred  hands  are  stretched  out  to  him, 
and  a  multitude  of  counsellors  are  bidding  him 
confide  his  destiny  to  their  keeping  if  he  would 
be  prosperous  and  happy. 

It  is  astonishing  from  what  different  stand- 
points people  view  Democracy — people,  I  mean, 
who  believe  themselves  to  be  wholly  in  sym- 
pathy with  its  aspirations  and  ambitions.  I  have 
met  men  who  appear  to  think  that  the  whole 
duty  of  Democracy  is  to  upset  the  established 
order  of  things  as  quickly  as  possible  ;  in  other 
words,  to  turn  the  world  upside  down,  so  that 
the  poor  may  become  rich  and  the  rich  poor. 
A  crack-brained  ideal,  truly ! 

Then  again  there  are  the  anti-religious,  or 
at  least  anti-Christian,  faddists  who  rejoice  to 
discern  in  the  new  force  which  has  arisen,  an 


3o8  What  of  To-Day  ? 

ally  in  their  "struggle"  against  the  priest  and 
the  Church,  and  who  seem  to  imagine  that 
Democracy  must,  by  its  nature,  be  synonymous 
with  irreligion. 

Of  the  professional  politicians  who  pay  so 
much  lip-homage  to  the  working-classes,  I  say 
nothing.  Nor  is  this  the  place  to  refer  to  the 
Socialists,  Syndicalists,  Anarchists  or  other  strange 
wild-fowl  of  a  similar  sort,  for  these  folk  are 
not  so  much  admirers  of  Democracy  as  would- 
be  leaders  and  guides  to  point  out  to  the  people 
the  way  it  should  go. 

The  most  curious  type  of  academic  Demo- 
crats, however,  is  to  be  found  in  that  class  which 
protests  that  Democracy  should  not  be  hampered 
with  advice  or  counsel  from  any  quarter.  The 
working  man,  so  runs  this  strange  theory,  has 
been  educated  and  given  the  power  to  make 
or  mar  himself  and  his  country.  Very  well, 
then,  let  him  work  out  his  own  salvation ;  let 
him  start  fresh,  and  try  all  things,  and  learn  by 
bitter  experience,  if  necessary,  what  is  best  for 
him.  He  will  make  mistakes,  but  he  will  profit 
by  them,  and  in  the  end  he  will  gain  wisdom 
as  well  as  knowledge. 

Now  the  fallacy  of  this  remarkable  vision  of 
Democracy  working  out  its  own  salvation  must 
be  obvious  to  anyone  who  stops  for  a  moment 
to  think  out  its  logical  consequences.  It  assumes 
that  the  working  classes  are  to  evolve  their  own 
theories  of  life  and  conduct  from  nothing,  that 


The  Arrival  of  Democracy  309 

the  experience  of  past  ages  is  not  to  count  at 
all,  and  that  we  are  to  throw  away  all  the 
good  as  well  as  all  the  bad  that  we  have  in- 
herited from  our  ancestors.  In  fact,  we  might 
as  well  revert  to  savagery  at  once,  and  painfully 
hew  our  way  back  to  civilisation  through  a 
tangled  jungle  wherein  all  roads  and  signposts 
have  been  overgrown  and  obliterated. 

No,  Democracy  will  not  find  wisdom  by  lightly 
setting  aside  the  experience  of  mankind,  or 
trusting  implicitly  to  its  own  newly-won  know- 
ledge. For  the  very  reason  that  it  has  much 
to  learn,  it  will  be  well-advised  to  go  slowly, 
and  ponder  well  which  of  the  two  main  roads 
that  stretch  before  it  leads  to  its  true  goal. 

For,  setting  aside  details,  Democracy  has  in 
reality  only  a  choice  of  two  paths,  and  the 
choice  is  identically  the  same  as  that  which  con- 
fronts every  individual  soul :  the  choice  between 
good  and  evil,  between  spirituality  and  worldli- 
ness,  between  Christ  and  Satan.  Democracy  is 
not,  in  itself,  a  panacea  for  all  our  social  troubles ; 
indeed,  I  will  go  farther  and  say  that  it  might, 
in  conceivable  circumstances,  enormously  aggra- 
vate them.  Nor  would  it  be  any  consolation, 
to  me  at  least,  to  know  that  while 

"  The  world  lay  ruined  about  our  feet 
And  the  hopes  of  our  youth  were  dead," 

the  catastrophe  had  come  about  purely  through 
an  error  or  miscalculation  on  the  part  of  a 


3io  What  of  To-Day  ? 

Democracy  busily  engaged  in  "working  out  its 
own  salvation." 

I  do  not  anticipate  any  such  catastrophe.  I 
have,  I  hope,  too  much  trust  in  the  good  sense 
of  my  countrymen.  But  what  I  do  wish  to 
emphasise  is  this :  that  Democracy  is  only  of 
value  in  so  far  as  it  realises  its  responsibilities. 
To  listen  to  some  of  the  crazy  talk  indulged  in 
nowadays  by  professed — or  professional — Demo- 
crats, one  would  imagine  that  the  People  can 
do  no  wrong,  and  that  whatever  a  majority 
affirms  must  be  the  truth. 

No  tyrant,  possessed  of  the  most  absolute 
power,  was  ever  more  flattered  or  fawned  upon 
than  is  our  Democracy  to-day,  and  the  danger 
is  very  real  lest  the  working  man,  his  head 
turned  by  so  much  nonsense,  should  come  to 
believe  that  he  really  is  above  the  law,  and  not 
only  the  law  of  nature  and  of  society,  but  of 
God. 

There  is  but  one  way  for  Democracy  to  work 
out  the  salvation  of  its  own  soul.  It  needs  a 
leader  to  guide  it,  in  whom  it  may  place  im- 
plicit reliance  and  faith ;  a  standard  to  fight 
under,  which  shall  serve  as  a  rallying-post ;  an 
ideal  to  battle  for,  which  shall  be  capable  of 
drawing  it  on  to  higher  and  ever  higher  things. 

And  what  more  inspiring  leader  can  Demo- 
cray  find  than  the  Christ  Whose  voice  was  ever 
raised  on  behalf  of  the  poor  and  the  suffering  ; 
what  more  glorious  standard  to  fight  under  than 


The  Arrival  of  Democracy 

that  of  the  Cross ;  what  finer  ideal  to  strive 
after  than  the  Christian  Ideal  as  preached  nearly 
two  thousand  years  ago  in  Galilee? 

Whatever  social  heights  Democracy  is  destined 
in  the  future  to  scale,  whatever  material  wonders 
it  is  destined  to  achieve,  whatever  political 
triumphs  it  is  destined  to  win,  if  one  thing  be 
lacking,  if  Democracy  turns  away,  as  it  is  in 
danger  of  turning  away,  from  Christ  and  Chris- 
tianity, it  will  perish  and  drag  States  and  Em- 
pires down  in  its  fall,  as  surely  as  any  pagan 
civilisation  of  the  past  has  vanished  and  left 
nothing  but  its  ruins  to  record  its  existence. 
Our  great  need  is  more  belief  and  reliance 
on  Christ,  our  Lord.  A  present-day  write^ 
reviewing  the  state  of  Europe  to-day,  is  not 
afraid  to  say,  ''The  situation  in  Europe  drives 
home  the  question  whether  a  whole-hearted 
acceptance  of  Christ's  teaching  is  not  the  only 
sound  basis  on  which  Society  can  be  built."  I 
ask  with  the  blessed  apostle,  "To  whom  else 
shall  we  go?" 


XXIX 

SOCIAL  REFORM  AND  INDIVIDUAL 
REFORM 

IT  is  a  curious  instance  of  the  muddle-headed- 
ness  of  modern  thinkers  that  Christ  is  now  actu- 
ally claimed  by  many  as  the  great  pioneer,  the 
first  teacher  of  Socialism.  As  a  matter  of  strict 
fact,  He  was  not  even  directly  a  social  reformer. 
His  mission  was  a  spiritual  one,  and  He  was, 
in  every  sense  of  the  word,  not  a  political,  but 
a  religious  reformer. 

It  is  true  that,  indirectly,  He  inspired  many 
social  and  domestic  reforms.  Lately  we  have 
been  told  by  those  who  know,  by  a  great  Com- 
mission that  has  done  a  great  work,  that  at  root 
the  social  problems  resolve  themselves  into  moral 
problems,  and  that,  until  you  lay  hold  of  the 
moral  problem,  until  you  shake  the  social  ques- 
tion down  to  the  moral  basis,  you  are  merely 
tinkering  with  social  reform  at  the  top. 

Our  Lord  taught  man  to  reform  himself,  and 
when  man  has  reformed  himself  he  will  soon 
reform  his  environment,  he  will  soon  reform  his 
domestic  and  social  relations,  he  will  soon  assert 
his  moral  fibre.  He  will  reform  his  home  ; 

312 


Social  and  Individual  Reform  313 

and  when  you  have  multiplied   the    reformation 
of  homes,  you  will  have  a  reformed  society. 

Let  us  build  up,  by  all  means,  our  Empire — 
no  one  prouder  of  it  than  he  who  writes  these 
words — but  do  not  let  us  cheat  ourselves  with 
the  idea  that  the  Empire  or  the  country  can 
rest  secure  on  our  Navy,  our  Army,  and  our 
Kitchener's  men  alone.  These  things  we  must 
have,  but  they  will  soon  cease  to  be  worth  much 
to  us  unless  we  make  up  our  minds  to  reform  our 
homes.  What  a  haven  of  refuge  is  a  real  Chris- 
tian home,  what  a  shelter  from  the  storms  of 
heresy,  the  cold  blasts  of  Agnosticism,  the  frozen 
avalanches  of  Indifferentism !  It  is  in  the  home 
that  the  nation  finds  its  strength,  that  the  ulti- 
mate foundations  of  Empire  must  rest.  If  our 
homes  are  godless,  how  shall  we  train  the  future 
citizens  of  our  Empire  to  be  worthy  of  their 
heritage  ? 

Let  us  not  talk,  then,  too  much  or  too  boast- 
fully about  social  reform.  It  is  individual  reform, 
home  reform  that  we  need.  When  that  has 
been  accomplished,  the  wider  results  will  follow 
of  themselves. 

Take  the  question  of  environment.  It  is 
not  to  be  denied,  as  I  have  had  occasion  to 
observe  elsewhere,  that  environment  has  a  very 
important  bearing  upon  character,  and  it  is  a 
problem  that  must  be  dealt  with  wholesale  in 
the  near  future.  But  we  must  be  on  our  guard 
against  exaggerating  the  effects  of  environment 


3i4  What  of  To-Day? 

and  against  imagining  that,  by  changing  a 
man's  surroundings,  we  can,  by  that  means  alone, 
change  his  character. 

There  are  other  things  to  be  thought  of; 
and  first  and  foremost,  as  I  have  said,  we  must 
reform  ourselves.  Nothing  can  well  be  more 
ridiculous  than  a  consciously  superior  person 
talking  of  social  reform,  as  though  the  whole 
point  at  issue  were  the  better  housing  of  the 
poor.  By  a  strange  impertinence,  these  people 
assume  that,  having  got  their  poor  into  dwell- 
ings more  worthy  of  human  beings,  the  whole 
moral  tone  of  the  State  will  thereby  suddenly 
be  changed. 

They  appear  to  be  labouring  under  the  odd 
delusion  that  by  readjusting  the  environment 
and  ameliorating  the  condition  of  their  less  for- 
tunate brothers  and  sisters  they  are  going  to 
reform  these  poorer  brethren.  Never  was  there 
a  more  shameful  or  preposterous  mistake.  Social 
reform  is  all  very  well  in  its  way,  but  England 
stands  in  need  to-day  of  individual  reform,  and 
both  must  be  founded  on  the  Christian  ideal. 

It  is  only  when  we  have  set  our  own  pri- 
vate house  in  order  that  we  can,  with  any  effect, 
try  to  help  our  neighbour  to  do  the  same  for 
his.  We  want  to  see  a  reformed  society,  a  moral 
state,  a  happy  community.  Is  it  not,  then, 
reasonable  that  we  should  start  on  this  quest  at 
the  nearest  point,  and,  having  ourselves  made  up 
our  minds  to  lead  a  better,  a  more  Christian 


Social  and  Individual  Reform  315 

life,  then  go  about  doing  good,  offering  personal 
service  instead  of  joining  Leagues  and  promoting 
dubious  Bills  ? 

It  is  disturbing  to  think,  amid  all  the  pre- 
sent day  gush  about  Social  Reform,  how  much 
less  real  brotherhood  exists  between  man  and 
man  to-day,  how  impersonal  our  relations  are 
becoming  one  with  another.  It  is  a  grievous 
thing  that  in  every  review  or  paper  where  such 
matters  are  discussed,  it  is  always  a  question  of 
capital  versus  labour,  the  leisured  classes  versus 
the  wage-earning  classes,  the  idle  rich  and  the  de- 
serving poor,  or  the  shiftless  poor  and  the  chari- 
table rich.  Why  should  there  be  this  antagonism 
between  any  section  of  the  whole  community  ? 
Is  it  not  because  we  have  accustomed  ourselves 
to  think  of  our  fellow  creatures  in  the  mass, 
rather  than  as  individuals,  that  we  have  refused 
to  follow  the  example  of  Christ,  and  that  our 
own  relations  with  others  are  a  matter  of  busi- 
ness rather  than  of  humanity  ?  There  would  be 
very  little  need  of  social  reform  if  we  took 
our  religion  seriously,  and  made  an  honest  en- 
deavour to  put  a  few  of  Christ's  precepts  into 
practice. 

Go  about  the  world  and  do  good.  Go  and 
visit  the  sick,  yourself,  go  and  inquire  how  the 
poor  live,  not  at  secondhand,  not  for  the  sake 
of  experience,  but  that  you  may  bring  them 
comfort  and  help.  Go  out,  I  say,  and  do  good. 
You  can  do  it  with  a  word,  you  can  do  it  with 


316  What  of  To-Day  ? 

a  smile,  you  can  do  it  with  a  look,  with  a 
shake  of  the  hand,  with  a  letter,  with  a  visit. 
Don't  stop  to  think  whether  your  neighbour  is 
similarly  occupied.  Start  in  yourself  on  the 
good  work,  and  you  will  be  surprised  to  find 
how  much  you  can  accomplish  single-handed. 

What  a  good  place  the  world  would  be  to 
live  in  if  we  were  all  of  this  mind !  How  much 
more  human  we  should  become  if  we  let  our 
sympathies  have  their  way  instead  of  stifling 
them !  Dare,  then,  to  be  human,  dare  to  be 
manly,  dare  to  be  Christian,  and  do  not  be  always 
catering  for  your  passions.  They  have  fed  quite 
well  enough. 

4 'Oh,  but,"  the  Socialist  will  say,  "my  dear 
Father,  truly,  you  are  stealing  my  thunder. 
This  is  my  own  conception  of  the  world — the 
world  as  it  will  be  when  we  are  all  Socialists 
and  have  got  rid  of  all  our  present  troubles, 
Capitalism,  Feudalism  and,  above  all,  the  deaden- 
ing superstitions  of  Christianity." 

Well,  I  suppose  the  Socialist  is  at  liberty  to 
make  that  assertion,  at  liberty  in  the  legal  sense, 
I  mean.  But  how  does  he  suppose  his  nostrum 
is  going  to  cure  the  ills  of  civilisation  when  it 
is  founded  on  the  very  negation  of  humanity? 
Where,  in  a  Socialistic  State,  will  there  be  room 
for  that  personal  service  which  it  should  be 
the  delight  of  every  Christian  to  render  to  his 
brother?  The  poor,  I  think,  have  had  already 
such  experience  of  how  a  soulless  Board  can 


Social  and  Individual  Reform  317 

treat  them  as  will  not  render  them  too  anxious 
to  be  given  over  wholly,  in  all  the  actions  of 
their  daily  lives,  to  its  tender  mercies. 

The  more  moderate  Social  Reformer  has 
more  reason  on  his  side.  But  I  would  beg  even 
him  to  remember  that  social  reform  without  a 
moral  or  religious  basis  is  worth  nothing,  that 
to  house  the  poor  better  may  only  be  to  trans- 
fer them  from  one  evil  environment  to  another 
just  as  bad  for  their  morals. 

Let  us  have  reform  by  all  means,  but  let  us 
understand  what  social  reform  really  means, 
what  it  should  include,  and  what  it  shall  not 
include.  The  Christian  who  is  honestly  trying 
to  follow  His  great  Example  will  have  no  diffi- 
culty in  discerning  the  right  path,  no  matter 
how  other  men  are  led  astray  in  mists  and  bogs 
by  the  enticing  will-o'-the-wisps  and  mocking 
illusions  of  a  materialistic  millennium.  "If  thou 
wilt  enter  into  life";  "if  thou  wilt  come  after 
Me";  "if  thou  wilt  be  perfect " —these  are  the 
searching  texts  first  of  all  to  worry  into  the 
fibre  of  our  being. 


XXX 

THE    SWEATING    CURSE 

I  WAS  once  asked  for  my  views  on  sweating,  and 
I  remember  replying  that  I  might  just  as  well  have 
been  asked  my  opinion  about  slavery  or  murder. 
The  sweating  system  should  never  have  been  al- 
lowed to  come  into  existence  at  all ;  yet  come  it 
did  in  the  early  part  of  the  last  century.  Con- 
sequently, it  is  nearly  a  hundred  years  too  old, 
and  is  quite  ready  for  death  and  burial.  Let  it 
die,  then,  and  let  us  give  it  a  pauper's  funeral 
with  the  epitaph : 

"  He  was  only  a  sweater  whom  nobody  mourns." 

I,  for  one,  would  rejoice  more  than  I  can  say  to 
chronicle  the  disappearance  of  this  slave-driving, 
sweating  business.  Instead  of  being  allowed  to 
starve  its  victims  out  of  life,  it  should  itself  have 
been  starved  to  death  in  its  infancy.  An  attempt, 
I  admit,  to  do  this  was  made  in  1850,  and  again 
in  1876,  while  in  1888  a  select  committee  of  the 
House  of  Lords  was  appointed  to  inquire  into 
the  matter,  291  sweated  witnesses  being  examined. 
Some  of  us  then  hoped  that  the  inquiry  would 
result  in  the  extinction  of  this  British  vampire, 

318 


The  Sweating  Curse        319 

which  was  draining  away  the  life-blood  of  our 
defenceless  brothers  and  sisters.  But  we  were 
beaten,  and  the  sweater  triumphed  all  along  the 
line.  How  could  it  be  otherwise,  when  the 
sweater  has  no  conscience  to  shame  him  into 
penitence,  when  his  ears  are  as  deaf  to  the  cries 
of  his  victims  as  his  eyes  are  blind  to  their  un- 
utterable misery?  The  greed  for  gain  is  the  only 
feeling  left  in  his  atrophied  soul,  and  the  groans 
of  his  fellow-creatures  are  only  listened  to  by  him 
if  he  can  coin  them  into  gold. 

What  do  we  mean  exactly  by  sweating?  A 
Parliamentary  Committee  has  described  the  sys- 
tem as 

(1)  Unduly  low  rates  of  wages. 

(2)  Excessive  hours  of  work. 

(3)  Insanitary  conditions  of  the  workplaces. 

I  do  not  think  that  the  vast  majority  of  the  com- 
munity can  have  any  idea  of  the  sweating  prac- 
tices that  obtain  in  their  midst  in  London,  in 
Liverpool,  and  in  Manchester,  in  Leicester  and 
Bristol,  in  Birmingham  and  other  centres  of 
industry,  and  that  are  even  being  carried  on  in 
connection  with  the  supplies  of  uniforms  and 
equipment  for  our  soldiers.  It  is  the  business 
of  those  of  us  who  know  to  enlighten  them  on 
the  subject,  and  to  keep  hammering  away  at  it 
until  we  succeed  in  waking  them  up,  and 
getting  something  done. 

There  are  good  and  worthy  people  who  are 


320  What  of  To-Day? 

so  horrified  at  uncomfortable  revelations  of  this 
sort,  that  as  soon  as  anyone  interested,  for  reasons 
of  his  own,  in  continuing  this  detestable  traffic, 
protests  that  the  agitation  has  been  exaggerated, 
they  will  gladly  accept  his  word,  and  sink  back 
into  their  comfortable  chairs  with  profound  relief, 
and  a  thankful  ejaculation  that  "  I  always  thought 
things  couldn't  be  so  bad  as  they  were  made 
out.  It  wouldn't  be  allowed  in  this  country." 

Let  me  tell  you  that  it  is  allowed,  and  far 
worse  things  than  you  have  heard  of  are  allowed 
in  this  Christian  England,  in  this  civilised  twen- 
tieth century.  There  has  been  no  exaggeration, 
because  no  exaggeration  is  possible. 

Let  me  illustrate  what  I  mean  by  giving  a 
single  instance — a  typical  one.  I  take  it  from 
Birmingham,  which  proudly  claims  to  be  the 
ideal  municipality.  Few  persons  realise  that  in 
the  metropolis  of  the  Midlands  there  are,  or 
were,  when  I  got  my  information,  fifty  button 
factories  and,  if  I  mistake  not,  twelve  other 
factories  for  hooks  and  eyes.  These  buttons 
and  hooks  and  eyes,  when  made,  are  usually 
mounted  on  cards,  ready  for  the  inspection  of 
shopkeepers'  customers. 

Little  do  the  purchasers  imagine  that  some 
ten  thousand  of  the  poorest  of  our  poor  brothers 
and  sisters  are  engaged  the  livelong  day  in  hovels 
called  houses,  sewing,  among  other  things,  these 
hooks  and  eyes  upon  show  cards.  Still  less  do 
they  realise  that  288  hooks  and  288  eyes  have 


The  Sweating  Curse        321 

to  be  linked  together  and  stitched  to  a  card  for 
the  magnificent  remuneration  of  four  farthings ! 

When  the  sweated  worker  has  carded  a 
"pack"  she  may  claim  as  her  wages  ninepence. 
But  out  of  this  ninepence  the  cost  of  needles  and 
cotton  must  be  subtracted,  which,  "carders"  tell 
me,  amounts  to  one  penny  in  the  shilling.  Work- 
ing all  day  a  woman  may  earn  at  this  job  nearly 
three  farthings  an  hour,  which  totals  on  an  average 
about  three  and  threepence  a  week !  You  who 
sing  in  England  "  Britons  never  shall  be  slaves," 
think  of  your  sisters  carding  hooks  and  eyes  in 
such  poverty,  hunger  and  misery. 

Let  me  emphasise  the  case  in  hand  a  little 
more.  In  a  squalid  court  I  found  a  woman,  with 
her  four  children,  sitting  on  the  floor  of  a  fire- 
less  room,  working  in  silence.  The  ages  of  the 
children  ranged  from  eight  down  to  two  and  a 
half  years  old.  All  the  little  brood — God  bless 
them ! — were  linking  the  hooks  and  the  eyes  with 
which  the  floor  was  littered,  preparing  them 
for  the  mother's  carding-needle.  From  8  a.m. 
to  10  p.m.,  or  it  may  be  to  midnight,  with  neces- 
sary interruptions  only,  the  whole  family  sat 
working,  including  even  the  husband,  who  was 
out  of  employment.  What  do  you  suppose  were 
the  earnings  of  this  industrious  family?  Five 
shillings  a  week!  and  out  of  this  sum  half  a 
crown  had  to  go  to  the  rackrenter.  So  that  for 
fire,  for  light,  for  food  and  for  clothing,  there 
remained  the  other  half  a  crown. 

v 


322  What  of  To-Day? 

"  O  God  !  that  rent  should  be  so  dear 
And  flesh  and  blood  so  cheap." 

Is  there  not  something  rotten  in  Christian 
England  somewhere,  when  such  a  state  of  things 
can  continue  unchecked?  Children  dragged  up 
in  hovels  such  as  I  have  described  do  not  know 
the  meaning  of  a  hearty  meal,  or  a  jolly  game, 
or  a  merry  laugh.  They  are  born  hungry,  tired 
and  weeping. 

I  have  cited  a  sweating  instance  from  Birm- 
ingham. I  could  fill  a  whole  volume  with  worse 
cases  from  Manchester,  where  I  worked  for 
nearly  twenty  years,  or  the  East  End  of  London, 
where  I  had  impressed  upon  me  examples  of 
the  sweating  industry  which  can  never  fade  from 
my  memory,  but  which  I  dare  not  commit  to 
print.  But  if  you  will  multiply  that  single 
example  I  have  given  from  Birmingham  by 
some  hundreds  of  thousands,  you  will  begin  to 
appreciate  the  meaning  of  that  text  of  Scripture 
"Blessed  is  the  man  who  understandeth  con- 
cerning the  needy  and  the  poor." 

Instead  of  boasting  that  trade  is  booming, 
and  that  our  national  prosperity  stands  so  high, 
better  far  would  it  be  for  us  to  hang  our  heads 
and  strike  our  breasts,  confessing  that  pauperism 
is  increasing,  that  it  has  reached  46  per  thousand 
in  London,  and  proclaiming  to  our  shame  that 
the  ragged  army  under  the  sweaters  is  being 
daily  recruited  far  more  readily  than  the  regular 
army  of  the  King.  Do  not  be  easily  taken  in 


The  Sweating  Curse         323 

by  imposing  figures  on  balance-sheets.  Turn 
your  thoughts  instead  to  this  war-scourge, 
under  which  the  Empire  is  groaning  for 
its  sins. 

To  make  matters  worse  for  industrial 
workers,  undesirable  aliens,  so-called  "politi- 
cal refugees,"  are  swarming  in  upon  us  like 
a  plague  of  locusts,  seizing  upon  work  which 
ought  to  be  kept  for  our  own  people,  and 
lowering  the  standard  of  living  to  a  point  to 
which  none  of  our  own  race  could  fall  without 
sinking  into  the  grave  itself.  If  our  represen- 
tatives, who  are  so  considerate  to  aliens,  would 
visit  the  East  End,  they  would  find  that  in  the 
borough  of  Stepney  alone  107  streets  have  passed 
into  the  occupation  of  aliens.  That  ought  to 
satisfy  them !  Each  time  I  visit  the  district  I 
seem  to  learn  that  more  and  more  of  my  fellow- 
countrymen  have  been  turned  out  of  doors  to 
make  room  for  yet  another  importation  of  aliens. 
My  complaint  is  not  against  the  Russian  Jew, 
or  whoever  the  alien  happens  to  be,  but  against 
our  legislators  who  practically  evict  our  own 
people  to  make  room  for  the  immigrant.  It  is 
all  very  well  to  be  magnanimous  at  the  expense 
of  others.  I  should  like  our  legislators  to  be 
magnanimous  at  their  own  expense,  and  not  at 
the  cost  of  home  and  work  to  our  wage-earning 
brethren. 

Of  course,  there  is  an  Aliens  Act,  but  the 
foreigner  is  far  too  clever  to  be  thwarted  by  it. 


324  What  of  To-Day? 

He  must  bring  a  five-pound  note  of  course. 
That  same  five-pound  note  is  a  season  ticket 
and  is  the  passport  for  scores  of  undesirables. 

Meanwhile,  is  it  not  a  terrible,  a  shocking, 
a  humiliating  thing  that  in  the  twentieth  century 
a  system  should  be  allowed  to  continue  which, 
if  it  means  anything,  means  the  sapping  of  the 
energies  and  of  the  vitality  of  the  whole  com- 
munity ? 

If  a  nation's  efficiency  depends  upon  the 
efficiency  of  its  industries,  it  is  equally  clear  that 
the  efficiency  of  its  industries  depends  no  less 
upon  the  efficiency  of  its  industrial  workers.  To 
defraud  the  labourer  of  a  sustenance  wage  is,  to 
my  thinking,  the  crime  of  national  suicide.  It 
is  a  crime  against  the  country,  it  is  a  crime  against 
the  worker,  it  is  a  crime  crying  to  Heaven  for 
vengeance,  which  no  Christian  nation  ought  to 
tolerate  within  its  borders.  If  the  wage-earning 
citizen  has  duties,  he  has  rights  no  less,  the  first 
among  them  being  the  right  in  a  Christian  State 
to  live  a  human  and  Christian  existence. 

Proclaim,  if  you  will,  that  England  expects 
every  man  to  do  his  duty,  but,  lest  you  forget, 
let  me  remind  you  that,  on  the  other  hand,  every 
man  expects  England  to  do  her  duty.  What 
has  she  done ;  what  is  she  doing ;  what  is  she 
going  to  do?  Wake  up,  England,  and  hear 
God's  present  commentary  on  your  past ! 


XXXI 
CAPITAL   AND   LABOUR 

NOT  so  very  many  years  ago,  a  strike  of  working 
men  on  any  extended  scale  invariably  shocked 
the  respectable  but  somewhat  lethargic  mind  of 
the  British  public.  They  seldom  troubled  to 
inquire  very  deeply  into  the  causes  of  the  dispute, 
but  in  a  general  way  they  vaguely  assumed  that 
the  working  classes  were  trying  to  get  more 
than  they  deserved  or  than  was  good  for  them, 
and  set  about  wringing  their  hands  helplessly 
and  wondering  what  the  world  was  coming  to. 
Sometimes  one  heard  the  opinion  expressed  that 
strikes  were  only  a  passing  phase,  due  to  a 
particular  local  or  temporary  cause,  and  that  it 
was  quite  absurd  to  suppose  that  they  would 
recur  during  a  time  of  real  trade  prosperity. 
Besides,  Parliament  was  legislating  as  fast  as  it 
could  to  remove  any  legitimate  grievances  the 
lower  classes  might  be  suffering  under,  and  so 
there  was,  on  the  whole,  a  comfortable  feeling 
that  things  would  settle  down  quietly  again  and 
the  industrial  methods  of  the  latter  part  of 
the  nineteenth  century  be  allowed  to  continue 
undisturbed. 

325 


326  What  of  To-Day? 

But  strikes,  so  far  from  diminishing,  have  of 
late  years  considerably  increased  both  in  number 
and  in  magnitude,  and  this,  too,  at  a  time  when 
a  tremendous  trade  boom  has  been  in  progress. 
And  at  last  the  public  have  been  forced  to 
realise  that,  however  uncomfortable  a  strike  may 
be  for  themselves,  it  is  a  weapon  which  the 
working  man  has  made  up  his  mind  to  use,  not 
only  to  adjust  some  special  or  individual  griev- 
ance, but  with  the  object  of  maintaining  certain 
well-defined  principles  which  he  has  laid  down 
for  himself,  and,  above  all,  with  the  fixed  notion 
of  bettering  his  own  and  his  fellows'  condition 
generally.  Whether  it  affects  our  own  pockets 
or  not,  or  even  though  it  may  offend  our  own 
sense  of  decency  or  decorum,  we  have  to  face 
the  fact  that  the  strike  is  now  a  recognised 
means  of  enabling  Labour  to  stand  up  for  its 
rights  against  what  it  may  consider  the  encroach- 
ments of  Capital. 

And  strikes  have,  at  any  rate,  produced  one 
excellent  result,  in  that  modern  society  recog- 
nises that  the  labouring  classes  are  entitled  to 
consideration,  and  though  at  times  they  may  be 
inclined  to  push  their  demands  too  far,  we  have 
at  any  rate  got  right  away  from  the  nineteenth 
century  view  of  treating  Labour  as  a  commodity 
in  itself  and  of  ignoring  entirely  its  human 
aspect. 

Even  now,  however,  I  do  not  think  the 
general  public  regard  this  grave  question  in 


Capital  and  Labour          327 

the  proper  perspective.  So  far  as  my  own 
experience  goes,  I  find  people  are  apt  to  look 
on  a  strike  as  still  something  in  the  nature  of 
a  sporadic  phenomenon,  uncomfortable  for  the 
moment,  but  usually  to  be  settled  by  some 
more  or  less  satisfactory  compromise,  which  will 
keep  things  going  fairly  well  until  some  fresh 
point  of  disagreement  is  reached. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  does  not  require  a 
very  deep  examination  of  the  whole  subject  to 
arrive  at  the  conclusion  that  a  strike  is  not,  as 
some  people  seem  to  think,  an  isolated  illness 
which  can  be  cured  by  a  particular  agreement 
on  certain  points,  but  is  rather  a  symptom  of 
the  deep-seated  disease  which  is  eating  into  the 
vitals  of  the  whole  social  body. 

Now  we  have  advanced  so  far  in  our  efforts 
to  diagnose  this  disease  as  to  arrive  at  a  pretty 
general  agreement  that  the  first  charge  on  any 
industry  must  be  a  living  wage  for  the  workers, 
the  actual  producers  without  whose  co-operation 
Capital  is  helpless.  The  economic  theories  of 
the  Manchester  School,  which  limited  its  outlook 
to  the  question  of  supply  and  demand,  and  which 
made  no  distinction  between  machinery  and  flesh 
and  blood,  are,  for  all  practical  purposes,  dis- 
credited, though  I  wish  I  could  think  that  the 
more  humane  view  prevailing  to-day  had  been 
voluntarily  adopted  by  the  Capitalists,  rather  than 
forced  upon  them  by  outside  circumstances. 

There   have  always   been,  I  am   thankful   to 


328  What  of  To-Day? 

know,  employers  who  have  done  their  duty  by 
their  employees,  and  these,  few  though  they 
may  have  been,  comparatively  speaking,  have 
invariably  found  their  policy  pay  them  well, 
even  from  the  purely  commercial  point  of  view. 
Which  brings  me  to  the  discussion  of  what,  I 
think,  would  prove  a  real  solution  of  most  of 
the  industrial  troubles  that  beset  us  at  present, 
and  do  away  with  nearly  all  the  antagonism 
between  Capital  and  Labour. 

What  we  have  got  to  realise  is  that  no  amount 
of  legislation,  however  well-intended  and  even 
actually  beneficial,  and  that  no  amount  of  long- 
winded  discussions  concerning  the  economic 
rights  of  one  side  or  the  other,  will  avail  to  re- 
move that  antagonism.  In  proportion  as  one 
party  is  forced  to  yield  to  the  other,  so  will  the 
reelings  of  bitterness  and  injustice,  with  all  that 
they  imply  in  the  matter  of  setting  class  against 
class,  grow  stronger  and  more  ineradicable,  and 
the  consequence  may  be  an  upheaval  that  may 
destroy  the  whole  of  our  Christian  civilisation. 

It  is  for  the  employers  to  make  the  first 
move.  The  present  soulless  relations  between 
the  capitalist  and  the  wage-earner  have  got  to 
be  put  on  an  altogether  different  footing.  The 
worker  must  be  able  to  regard  the  business  in 
which  he  is  employed,  not  as  a  mere  institution 
from  which  he  draws  so  many  shillings  weekly, 
but  as  a  concern  in  whose  prosperity  he  is  vitally 
interested,  and  on  whose  success  his  own  depends. 


Capital  and  Labour         329 

Every  employer  of  labour,  then,  with  a  wider 
outlook  than  mere  dividend-grabbing,  will  make 
a  point  of  introducing  into  his  business  some 
such  human  element  as  co-partnership  or  profit- 
sharing,  which  will  give  his  workers  a  direct 
and  personal  interest  in  the  industry  in  which 
they  are  engaged.  I  rejoice  to  know  that  in 
many  of  our  business  houses  some  such  scheme 
is  already  operating  with  quite  extraordinary  suc- 
cess. I  know  of  firms  which  distribute  at 
Christmas  time  two,  three,  or  even  four  thousand 
pounds  as  a  bonus  on  the  results  of  the  year's 
working.  This  method  of  dealing  with  the 
wage-earners  changes  a  business  from  being 
merely  a  piece  of  elaborate  mechanism  into  a 
human  organism.  The  men  and  women  in 
such  a  firm,  store  or  shop,  become,  as  it  were, 
members  of  one  family,  taking  a  very  personal 
interest  in  the  success  of  a  business  in  which 
they  are  something  more  than  mere  "hands" 
under  a  "  boss." 

And  not  only  is  the  staff  of  employees  bene- 
fited by  the  conversion  of  a  business  from  a 
grinding  machine  into  a  human  organisation, 
but  the  employer  himself  is  saved  inconceivable 
anxiety  about  his  relations  with  his  men,  and 
he  is  able  to  move  among  them  in  the  different 
departments  of  his  business,  feeling  that  his 
presence  means  to  them  a  sympathetic  en- 
couragement and  a  friendly  recognition  of  their 
devoted  services. 


330  What  of  To-Day  ? 

It  is  this  human  element,  more  than  any- 
thing else,  which  is  going  to  put  an  end  to 
strikes  and  to  save  us  in  the  future  from  the 
quicksands  of  Socialistic  and  Syndicalistic  theo- 
ries. While  I  was  in  the  States  I  saw  this  per- 
sonal relationship  between  master  and  man  highly 
developed  in  not  a  few  department  stores  and 
other  business  establishments ;  but  I  want  par- 
ticularly to  emphasise  the  fact  that  the  mere 
adoption  of  co-operative  or  profit-sharing  methods 
will  not,  in  itself,  necessarily  abolish  all  trouble 
between  employers  and  employed. 

It  will  do  a  great  deal,  beyond  a  doubt,  to 
rid  us  of  much  of  the  existing  class  antagonism, 
but  we  want  something  more  than  this.  We 
want  to  get  closer  together,  to  strive  to  work 
for  the  common  good,  each  for  all  and  all  for 
each,  and  to  realise,  to  the  greatest  possible  ex- 
tent, the  Christian  ideal  of  the  brotherhood  of 
men  under  the  fatherhood  of  God. 

It  is  a  big  ideal,  and  I  do  not  say  that  our 
erring  human  nature  will  ever  be  able  to  realise 
it  in  its  full  meaning,  but  at  least  it  is  an  ideal 
worth  struggling  for,  and  to  no  relation  of  life, 
as  it  seems  to  me,  is  it  more  easy  to  apply 
than  to  that  between  employer  and  employed. 
Self-interest  alone  should  be  a  sufficient  in- 
ducement for  any  firm  to  make  their  employees 
contented,  happy  and  prosperous,  but  self-in- 
terest as  a  motive  will  never  get  the  best 
results.  The  element  of  real  humanity,  of  a 


Capital  and  Labour         331 

brotherly  interest,  must  be  added  if  the  result 
is  to  be  successful,  and  in  this  connection  much 
can  be  done,  and,  I  am  thankful  to  recognise, 
much  is  being  done  in  many  quarters  in  what 
may  be  called  social  welfare  work. 

By  looking  after,  and  taking  a  lively  personal 
interest  in,  the  outside  recreations  and  pursuits 
of  his  employees,  the  head  of  a  firm  may  do  a 
great  deal  to  foster  the  intimate  personal  note 
in  the  business.  But  here,  again,  tact  is  specially 
needed.  Employees  must  not  be  made  to  feel 
that  they  are  bound  to  enjoy  themselves  or 
mould  their  own  lives  in  a  way  which  a  bene- 
volent, but,  perhaps,  rather  too  autocratic,  em- 
ployer commands.  I  have  heard  of  cases  in 
which,  doubtless  with  the  most  laudable  motives, 
the  lives  of  employees  have  been  made  almost 
unbearable  owing  to  the  strict  supervision  to 
which  they  were  subjected  in  the  matter  of 
recreation  and  amusement.  And  the  result  was 
that  there  was  far  more  ill-feeling  between  the 
workers  and  the  masters  than  would  have  been 
the  case  had  the  latter  left  the  men  more  to 
their  own  devices.  No  Englishman  likes  to  be 
driven.  If  he  is  treated  well,  he  will  work  well, 
but  he  will  not  submit  to  being  dictated  to  as 
to  how  he  shall  use  the  hours  which  are  his 
own.  And  this,  I  think,  is  a  point  that  should 
be  borne  in  mind  by  many  well-meaning  em- 
ployers, who  think  they  are  doing  so  much  for 
their  men  and  who  are  honestly  hurt  and  be- 


332  What  of  To-Day? 

wildered  by  the  cold  way  in  which  their  efforts 
are  received. 

But  these  pitfalls  can  easily  be  avoided,  and 
the  chief  point  is  that  the  means  employed  to 
improve  the  relationship  between  masters  and 
men  shall  be  adapted  to  the  end.  Whatever 
technical  or  theoretical  difficulties  are  supposed 
to  exist  in  the  adoption  of  profit-sharing  schemes 
can  always  be  overcome  in  practice,  as  has 
been  abundantly  proved,  and  for  the  rest,  as  I 
say,  it  is  largely  a  question  of  tact  and  good- 
will. Let  employers  provide  all  the  social 
amenities  possible  for  their  employees,  but  let  it 
be  entirely  a  matter  for  the  employee's  own 
choice  whether  he  takes  advantage  of  them. 

Looking  out  upon  the  commercial  and  in- 
dustrial side  of  life,  it  is  possible  to  see,  in  the 
near  future,  almost  unlimited  opportunities  for 
expansion.  Business  is  becoming  a  fine  art, 
and  anyone  who  has  studied  the  subject  will 
soon  be  satisfied  that  there  is  no  end  to  be  set 
to  its  sphere  of  activity  and  enterprise.  There 
is  money  in  it,  there  are  brains  in  it,  there  is 
education  in  it,  there  is  recreation  in  it.  And 
once  the  wage-earner  is  made  to  understand  and 
realise  that  his  own  opportunities  are  as  unlimited 
as  those  of  the  man  at  the  top,  his  point  of  view 
will  speedily  be  altered.  And  I  would  remind 
the  employer  that,  apart  from  the  increased 
success  which  the  increased  efficiency  of  his 


Capital  and  Labour          333 

employees  will  bring  him,  he  will  get  an  enor- 
mous return  in  other  ways  under  the  altered 
industrial  conditions.  There  is  no  greater  con- 
solation to  be  got  out  of  life  than  the  joy  of 
helping  others. 


XXXII 

MODERN  IDEALS 
I. — REVERSION  TO  PAGANISM 

CHRISTIANS  can  have  but  one  ideal,  one  true 
measure  of  greatness.  It  is  the  measure  given 
to  us,  taught  to  us,  revealed  to  us  by  the 
Founder  of  Christianity,  Jesus  Christ.  Before 
the  principles  of  the  great  Liberator  became 
dominant  in  human  affairs,  there  were,  roughly 
speaking,  three  measures  of  greatness  prevalent 
in  the  world :  that  of  the  Barbarian,  that 
of  the  Greek,  and  that  of  the  Roman ;  and 
even  to-day,  wherever  we  find  a  people  not 
recognising  the  standard  of  Christ,  one  or 
other  of  these  three  pagan  measures  still 
obtains. 

The  savage  and  barbarian  in  all  times  has 
but  one  ideal  of  greatness,  which  is  brute 
force.  He  measures  greatness  by  the  number 
of  scalps,  by  the  amount  of  looted  plunder  he 
has  collected,  by  his  herds  of  cattle,  by  his 
empire  over  the  lives  of  others.  Alaric, 
Attila,  Tamerlane — such  are  the  ideals  of  great- 
ness in  the  mind  of  the  barbarian.  A 
miserable  standard  it  is,  for  a  drop  of  poison, 
an  inch  of  steel,  a  few  infinitesimal  microbes 

334 


Modern  Ideals  335 

may  in   a  moment  bring  to  nothing  such  great- 
ness as  that. 

The  refined  and  polished  Athenian  had  quite 
another  standard  of  greatness  :  his  was  an  in- 
tellectual and  aesthetic  standard.  He  lived 
chiefly  in  the  open  air,  or  about  the  precincts  of 
a  great  temple.  He  spent  his  days  in  the  study 
of  art,  or  hung  upon  the  eloquent  words  of 
an  ^Eschines  or  a  Demosthenes,  or  paced  up 
and  down  listening  to  the  philosophy  of  an 
Aristotle  or  a  Plato.  He  worshipped  intellect, 
art  and  eloquence. 

The  Roman  ideal  was  political  strength  and 
imperial  dominion.  To  the  Romans  the  highest 
type  of  the  great  man  was  to  be  found  in  the 
conqueror  of  nations,  the  master  of  many  legions, 
the  sagacious  ruler,  and  it  was  Rome's  proudest 
boast  that  she  was  not  only  mistress  of  the  world, 
but  that  she  was  able,  by  her  unrivalled  instinct 
for  governing,  to  retain,  with  no  effort,  the 
allegiance  of  the  countries  she  had  added  to  her 
Empire. 

Yet  surely  man  was  born  for  something 
better  and  nobler  than  these  ideals  of  great- 
ness— brute  force,  mental  power,  political  energy! 
We  may  endow  a  man  with  the  physique  of 
Hercules,  the  eloquence  of  Demosthenes,  and 
the  statecraft  of  Caesar  ;  but  unless  he  has  that 
within  him  which  teaches  him  to  do  all  that 
becomes  a  man,  he  will  degenerate  into  a 
selfish  tyrant.  Physical  energy,  mental  ability, 


336  What  of  To-Day? 

and  political  astuteness  were  united  in  the 
highest  degree  in  Napoleon.  Yet  he  ended 
by  arriving  at  such  a  pitch  of  egoism  that,  as 
he  himself  is  reported  to  have  said,  the  lives  of 
millions  of  men  counted  as  nothing  to  him 
when  his  interests  were  at  stake. 

What  is  the  Christian  standard  of  greatness? 
It  seems  strange  that,  in  an  avowedly  Christian 
country,  one  should  have  to  recall  the  words  of 
Christ,  Who,  when  His  Apostles  were  disputing 
among  themselves  as  to  which  should  be  the 
greater  in  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven,  stopped 
their  strife  with  those  memorable  words  :  "Who- 
soever shall  be  great  among  you,  let  him  be 
your  minister,  and  whosoever  will  be  chief  among 
you,  let  him  be  your  servant." 

There,  in  a  phrase,  is  the  difference  between 
the  world's  standard  of  judgment  and  the  Divine 
conception  of  human  greatness.  And  Christ's 
estimate  of  greatness  differs  from  all  others  prin- 
cipally in  this,  that,  according  to  it,  greatness 
is  not  to  be  the  monopoly  of  a  privileged  class 
or  the  title  given  to  certain  exceptional  forms 
of  service.  It  is  to  be  common  to  every  sec- 
tion of  the  community,  it  is  to  consist,  not  in 
the  importance  of  the  act  performed,  but  in  the 
motive  which  is  behind  the  action. 

A  humble  man  may  carry  out  an  obscure 
task  in  the  course  of  his  labour,  from  such  prin- 
ciples and  in  such  a  manner  as  to  render  it 
truly  great.  The  greatness  which  Christ  recog- 


Modern  Ideals  337 

ntses  is  possible  to  every  individual  member  of 
the  social  organism  by  the  due  performance  of 
his  functions  of  usefulness,  whatever  they  may 
be ;  by  his  exchanging  egoism  for  altruism,  by 
his  suppression  of  himself,  his  giving  up  of 
himself  for  others. 

In  short,  Christ  taught  that  the  quality  of  an 
act  did  not  lie  in  its  intrinsic  importance,  but  in 
the  fashion  and  the  spirit  in  which  it  was  done. 

It  is  pertinent,  then,  to  inquire  how  far,  in 
this  age,  we  have  departed  from  the  Christian 
ideal,  and  to  what  extent  we  still  cling  to  the 
barbarian  and  pagan  measures  of  greatness. 
Human  nature  being  what  it  is,  it  is  not  to  be 
expected  that  we  shall  cease,  even  in  the  course 
of  centuries,  from  acclaiming  the  man  pre- 
eminent in  certain  walks  of  life,  and  ignoring  or 
even  despising  other  occupations  as  contemptible 
or  degrading. 

But  it  seems  to  me  that,  just  at  present,  there 
are  specially  disturbing  signs  that  public  opinion 
is  being  subtly  educated  not  only  to  admire  and 
copy,  so  far  as  it  can,  the  example  of  the  so- 
called  successful  men  of  the  world,  but  also  to  set 
up  deliberately,  in  place  of  the  Christian  ideal, 
those  other  standards  of  which  I  have  spoken. 

It  is  the  fashion  nowadays  to  decry  work  as 
work.  Work,  by  all  means,  you  will  be  told, 
work  hard  and  work  in  a  hurry,  but  only  as  a 
means  to  an  end,  the  end  being  that  you  may 
the  sooner  be  able  to  lead  a  life  of  self-indulg- 

w 


338  What  of  To-Day? 

ence  and  luxury.  It  is  absurd  to  take  a  pride 
in  one's  work — we  must  work  for  gain,  so  that 
we  may  the  sooner  be  rid  of  the  necessity  for 
work,  or  only  go  on  working  to  add  more  money 
to  that  we  have  already  earned. 

A  man  must  work,  it  is  admitted,  whether  to 
live  or  to  make  money,  but,  for  all  that,  the 
notion  that  there  is  anything  honourable  or  dig- 
nified in  the  actual  work  itself  is  sedulously 
discouraged.  Indeed,  the  notion  is  steadily 
fostered  that  good  honest  work  is  not  wanted 
nowadays,  or  rather  that  the  capacity  for  work 
is  nothing  like  so  excellent  a  possession  as  the 
mental  agility  which,  at  a  moment's  notice,  can 
bring  forth  "ideas"  readily  convertible  into  hard 
cash. 

I  am  not  saying  that  there  are  no  hard  or 
honest  workers  in  the  world.  There  are  plenty 
of  them.  But  the  trouble  is  that  they  are  grad- 
ually being  pushed  into  an  inferior  position  as 
compared  with  that  "  brainy,"  smart  young 
person,  for  whom  there  seems  such  a  constant  de- 
mand at  the  present  time.  And  what,  may  I  ask, 
is  the  consequence  of  such  a  continual  depreciation 
of  the  honest  worker  likely  to  be?  Surely  the 
youth  about  to  enter  upon  his  struggle  with  the 
world  will  elect  to  join  the  ranks,  not  of  the 
workers,  but  of  the  "  brainy  "  band,  and  make 
up  in  push  and  cheek  what  he  lacks  in  market- 
able ideas.  So  that,  even  from  a  worldly  point 
of  view,  the  country  will  be  a  loser. 


Modern  Ideals  339 

I  have,  I  fear,  been  tempted  into  an  apparent 
digression  on  this  subject  of  work,  but  it  is,  in 
reality,  germane  to  my  subject,  for  it  is  in  the 
attitude  adopted  towards  the  every-day  task  that 
the  ideals  of  Christianity  and  the  modern  spirit 
are  so  appallingly  at  variance.  To  the  former 
there  can  be  no  such  thing  as  menial  employ- 
ment ;  all  labour,  if  worthily  done,  is  worthy  of 
the  best  energies  of  a  man  or  woman.  But  a 
generation,  fed  on  the  noxious  heresies  of  an  irre- 
ligious and  worldly  philosophy,  is  rapidly  arriving 
at  the  conclusion  that  the  ordinary  tasks  of  daily 
life  are  not  worthy  its  exalted  attention — that  it 
cannot,  in  short,  sufficiently  "express "its  own 
wonderful  self  through  such  a  paltry  medium. 
So  far  astray  does  the  deliberate  turning  aside 
from  Christianity  lead  the  deluded  human 
mind  I  Believe  me,  if  I  were  to  keep  a 
London  street  crossing,  there  would  be  this 
remarkable  about  it — that  it  would  be  the  best 
kept  crossing  in  the  whole  metropolis.  Be 
proud  of  your  work,  no  matter  how  humble 
it  is. 

II. — "  MAKING  A  SUCCESS" 

BUT  I  still  have  something  to  say  concerning 
the  three  ideals  already  referred  to.  As  ideals, 
they  are  manifestly  worthless,  though  in  their 
proper  place  they  may  be,  each  and  all,  worthy 
of  respect  and  even  admiration. 

It  is  a  good   thing  for  youth  to  take  care  of 


340  What  of  To-Day? 

its  physical  body,  and  to  keep  it  healthy  and 
strong  by  means  of  proper  exercise  and  mod- 
eration. Intellect,  art  and  eloquence,  again,  are 
good  things  in  their  way,  and  it  is  fit  that  we 
should  pay  due  consideration  to  them.  Similarly 
the  man  who  has  attained  to  political  power  and 
uses  ^it  wisely  and  well,  is  justly  entitled  to  our 
admiration  and  respect. 

But  how  stands  the  matter  as  regards  these 
things  to-day  ? 

The  Christian  ideal,  as  I  have  shown,  is  no 
longer  that  obtaining  in  this  country.  We  have 
gone  back  for  our  standards  to  the  pagans  and  the 
savages.  And  if  there  is  a  great  deal  that  is  to 
be  commended  in  the  physical  culture  craze  of 
which  we  hear  so  much  nowadays,  there  is  also 
grave  danger  of  the  cult  being  overdone.  By 
all  means  be  careful  about  your  health,  but  do  not 
erect  your  body  into  a  god,  and  neglect  the 
higher  side  of  your  nature  in  anxiously  cultivat- 
ing your  biceps,  and  in  studying  the  intricate 
question  of  pose  and  poise,  bearing  and  balance. 
Lead  a  healthy,  regular  life,  and  you  may  safely 
trust  Nature  to  repay  you  in  that  respect. 

It  may  seem  strange  that  immediately  after 
warning  my  readers  against  paying  overmuch 
attention  to  their  bodies,  I  should  find  myself 
compelled  to  caution  them  against  the  equally 
pressing  and  even  more  insidious  danger  of 
making  a  fetish  of  the  intellect.  But  it  is  a 
fact  that  this  curious  age,  with  all  its  hunger 


Modern  Ideals  341 

for  luxury,  its  craving  for  pleasure,  has,  in  some 
odd,  paradoxical  fancy,  begun  to  take  itself 
seriously.  Having  discarded  the  old  teachings 
of  Christianity,  it  has  started  to  "think  for  it- 
self," and  the  results  might  be  amusing  were 
they  not  too  distressing  to  furnish  food  for 
laughter. 

Just  as  in  Athens  of  old  the  people  were  ever 
attracted  by  some  new  thing,  so,  in  our  own 
day,  a  preacher  or  a  teacher  has  but  to  enun- 
ciate some  fresh  philosophy,  some  novel  doc- 
trine, to  attract  a  goodly  crowd  of  followers, 
who  imagine  that  by  accepting  his  brand-new 
gospel  they  are  showing  a  fine  independence 
of  'thought,  and  proving  themselves  superior  to 
the  common  herd. 

Well,  an  original  thinker  must  always  com- 
mand our  respect  and  engage  our  interest,  even 
if  we  consider  him  mistaken,  but  the  hashed-up 
heresies  of  the  past,  which  nowadays  affect  to 
take  the  place  of  religion,  are  so  obviously  far 
from  being  original,  that  they  could  only  de- 
ceive those  who  play  at  thinking  as  children 
make-believe  with  toys. 

There  is,  again,  that  third  ideal  which  I 
mentioned — the  Roman  ideal  of  imperial  strength 
and  dominion.  Such  an  ideal  must  make  the 
strongest  possible  appeal  to  every  Englishman, 
to  every  British  subject.  Let  us  be  patriotic 
by  all  means,  but  it  is  also  necessary  to  be  on 
our  guard  against  dwelling  too  much  on  the 


342  What  of  To-Day? 

material  benefits  of  Empire.  "What  shall  it  profit 
a  man  if  he  gain  the  whole  world,  and  suffer  the 
loss  of  his  own  soul?"  And  what  shall  it  profit 
a  nation — how  did  it  profit  Rome? — to  conquer 
the  whole  world  merely  for  its  own  selfish  ends, 
and  to  satisfy  its  own  greed  and  lust  for  power  ? 
Heaven  forbid  that  I  should  bring  such  an  ac- 
cusation as  that  against  my  own  beloved  country; 
but  I  would  remind  my  readers  that  to  rule 
others  wisely,  it  is  necessary  to  rule  oneself,  and 
never  more  so  than  at  a  time  like  the  present. 
There,  for  the  moment,  let  the  matter  rest. 

I  have  spoken  of  these  three  ideals,  and  I 
have  frankly  admitted  that  there  is  good  in  each, 
if  kept  within  bounds.  But  there  is  another 
ideal — if  we  can  call  it  such — which  is,  I  fear, 
making  very  rapid  headway  in  England  just 
now.  It  is,  in  the  phrase  of  the  day,  "  to  make 
a  success,"  and  since  it  is  clearly  our  duty 
to  make  the  most  of  such  talents  as  we  have 
been  given,  such  an  ambition  would  seem  at 
first  sight  innocent  and  even  laudable. 

Everything  depends,  however,  on  what  mean- 
ing we  attach  to  the  word  "success."  No 
Christian  who  really  considered  his  religion  of 
vital  importance  could  possibly,  at  the  end  of 
life,  regard  his  career  as  a  success,  however  high 
he  had  risen  in  the  world's  estimation,  if  he  had 
not  satisfied  his  own  conscience  and  kept  faith 
with  his  Creator. 

I   am   not   saying   a  word   against  legitimate 


Modern  Ideals  343 

ambitions.  On  the  contrary,  since  power,  riches 
and  position  increase  a  man's  ability  to  do  good 
and  help  others,  we  should  each  strive,  so  far 
as  in  us  lies,  to  attain  to  such  a  position  as  will 
enable  us  to  get  what  we  can  in  order  that  we 
may  give  the  more  freely.  We  cannot  go  wrong 
if  we  keep  in  mind  the  Christian  measure  of 
greatness  of  which  I  have  spoken — "to  minister 
to  all  men." 

But  can  we  say  of  this  generation  that  its  ob- 
jects are  thus  laudable  ?  Can  we  even  award  it 
the  negative  praise  of  pursuing  an  artistic  or 
business  ideal  for  the  satisfaction  of  knowing 
that  the  work  in  hand  has  been  well  and  truly 
done,  irrespective  of  the  wealth  it  may  bring  ? 
We  can  appreciate,  even  if  we  cannot  approve, 
the  man  who  cares  nothing  for  money,  who, 
let  us  say,  for  the  sake  of  his  art,  flouts  the 
world  and  its  riches,  and  is  content  to  eat  the 
bread  of  poverty,  so  long  as  he  feels  he  is  not 
bartering  his  talents.  No  doubt  at  bottom  his 
motives  will  be  found  to  rest  on  much  vanity 
and  egoism.  But  at  least  he  follows  a  worthier 
ideal  than  most  of  us  can  boast  we  do  to-day. 

For  the  fact  is — and  it  is  absurd  to  deny  it 
— that  in  this  material,  sensual  age,  by  "suc- 
cess" we  mean  "money."  Let  a  man  make 
money,  and  there  will  be  few  to  ask  how  he 
made  it;  fewer  still  to  inquire  whether  he  uses 
it  well.  And,  to  speak  candidly,  the  whole  aim 
of  our  modern  money-seekers  seems  to  be  that 


344  What  of  To-Day? 

they  may  use  their  riches,  when  acquired,  to  in- 
dulge themselves  in  every  kind  of  luxury  and 
pleasure.  There  are  many  men  I  have  met  who 
have  achieved  this  kind  of  success,  and,  since 
they  are  not  notorious  evil-livers,  they  would 
probably  be  very  genuinely  astonished  if  told 
that,  from  the  Christian  point  of  view,  they 
were  failures. 

Such  men  have  not,  I  maintain,  used  their 
talents  rightly.  Having  satisfied  all  their  per- 
sonal desires  in  the  way  of  luxury  and  enjoy- 
ment, they  find  it  possible  to  devote  a  certain 
sum  yearly  to  charity  ;  they  may  even  become 
patrons  of  various  charitable  organisations,  but 
it  never  occurs  to  them  that  they  are  called 
upon  to  do  more  than  this.  And  why?  Be- 
cause they  live,  I  do  not  say  in  an  anti-Chris- 
tian, but  most  decidedly  in  an  un-Christian 
atmosphere,  in  an  age  when  the  teachings  of 
Christ  are  not  so  much  opposed,  as  ignored. 
And  I  say  explicitly,  there  is  more  danger  to 
the  world's  morality  to  be  apprehended  from 
this  indifferent,  practically  pagan,  attitude,  than 
from  the  bitter  hostility  which  at  various  times 
in  history  infidels  and  atheists  have  shown  to 
the  Christian  spirit. 

For  while  these  latter  had  their  time  too 
fully  occupied  in  attacking  the  Church  to  stop 
to  inquire  what  they  were  going  to  put  in  her 
place,  the  modern  pagan  is  a  constructive  builder 
of  evil.  He  insists  that  an  act,  a  rule  of  con- 


Modern  Ideals  345 

duct,  a  mode  of  life,  which  by  every  law  of 
God  is  wrong,  is  to  be  considered  right,  that 
evil  is  good  and  vice  virtue,  and  finds  in  a 
dozen  other  horrible  paradoxes  the  sole  reposi- 
tory of  truth  where  morality  and  ethics  are  con- 
cerned. 

In  fact,  he  will  not  have  the  spirit  of  Christ 
on  any  consideration.  Sooner  than  that,  he  will 
return  to  the  old  pagan  standards,  the  morality, 
the  ideals  of  pagan  Greece  and  Rome,  or  even 
the  deceptive  philosophies  of  the  East.  And 
the  result  is,  as  all  such  turning  away  from  the 
Divine  must  be,  the  growth  of  a  more  debased, 
if  more  subtle,  type  of  materialism  than  any 
pagan  philosopher  ever  imagined  or  any  heathen 
voluptuary  ever  practised.  We  can  never  be  as 
though  the  Cross  in  the  heavens  had  not  once 
shone  out  before  us. 


XXXIII 

THE  USES  OF  ADVERTISEMENT 

SOME  superior-minded  folk  have  got  into  the 
habit  of  unthinkingly  condemning  the  extent  to 
which  the  art  of  advertisement  is  used  nowa- 
days. And  on  the  surface  there  is  some  slight 
plausibility  for  their  attitude.  They  point 
out  that  advertisement  of  itself  by  no  means 
guarantees  the  goodness  of  the  thing  advertised, 
that  indeed  an  inferior  article  well  boomed — if 
I  may  be  allowed  the  expression — is  more  likely 
to  be  bought  by  an  ignorant  public  than  the 
genuine  goods  which  are  sold  on  their  merits 
alone,  and  that  this  very  fact  tends  to  lessen 
the  general  power  of  discrimination,  and  leads 
both  to  the  neglect  of  what  is  really  valuable  in 
great  and  small  matters  and  to  the  undue 
exaltation  of  the  lower  at  the  expense  of  the 
higher. 

Such  people,  it  will  be  noticed,  are  not 
referring  to  the  uses  of  advertisement  in  con- 
nection with  commerce  alone  ;  rightly  or  wrong- 
ly, this  practice  of  advertising  what  one  has  to 
offer  to  the  world  now  permeates  every  depart- 
ment of  human  activity,  and  that  in  a  very 

346 


The  Uses  of  Advertisement  347 

extraordinary  degree.  And  the  question  arises 
whether  on  the  whole  the  effects  on  mankind 
generally  are  quite  so  injurious  as  the  anti- 
advertisers  would  have  us  believe. 

For  my  part,  I  am  heart  and  soul  with  the 
advertisers,  and  I  can  give  the  reasons  for  my 
position  in  a  very  few  words.  In  the  first  place, 
advertisement  is  no  new  thing.  Every  genera- 
tion, back  to  the  remotest  ages,  has  made  use 
of  the  art,  according  to  its  lights  and  in  its  own 
way.  If  the  advertising  of  our  own  times  is  a 
little  more  pronounced — a  little  more  blatant,  if 
you  like — that  is  readily  explained  by  the  fact 
that  with  the  comparative  growth  of  the  civil- 
ised world  it  has  become  necessary  to  raise 
one's  voice  a  little  louder  than  was  needful 
in  the  past.  The  necessity  may  be  deplored, 
but  it  is  no  use  kicking  against  accomplished 
facts. 

Secondly,  my  experience  goes  to  show  that 
no  amount  of  advertisement  will  sell  a  really 
bad  article  for  any  length  of  time.  You  may 
fool  the  people  to  start  with,  but  you  cannot 
fool  them  for  ever.  And  thirdly,  I  am  myself 
inartistic  enough  to  believe  that  if  you  have 
something  to  offer  mankind,  whether  in  trade, 
art,  or  morality,  which  will  benefit  your 
fellow-creatures,  you  have  every  right  to  use 
all  legitimate  means  to  make  them  appreciate 
that  fact.  In  certain  cases  I  would  even  go 
farther  and  insist  that  it  is  your  duty  to  do  so. 


348  What  of  To-Day? 

But  that  is  a  point  which  I  will  deal  with 
directly. 

I  have  referred  to  advertisement  as  an  art. 
It  is  also  a  science.  It  is  a  science  inasmuch 
as  it  implies  a  thorough  study  of  psychology. 
We  want  to  know  what  men  want.  We  have 
to  sit  down  and  study  human  nature  in  all  its 
moods  and  tenses  and  on  every  rung  of  the 
social  ladder.  We  must  know  what  is  doing 
and  how  it  is  being  done,  and  we  have  got 
to  be  actual  and  supply  pressing  immediate 
wants. 

It  is  an  art  because  artists  have  strong  mo- 
tives for  employing  their  best  skill  in  this 
matter  of  advertising.  If  I  were  asked  to  define 
it,  I  would  say  it  was  the  art  of  arresting  atten- 
tion, and  telling  men  where  best  to  get  what 
most  they  want.  I  do  not  say  that  advertising 
is  free  from  abuse.  Cheap  and  nasty  things 
which  nobody  needs  are  forced  upon  our  atten- 
tion unblushingly  and  boldly.  But  what  good 
thing  is  there  in  the  world  which  is  not  equally 
misused  ?  The  honest  advertiser  of  an  honest 
article  has  my  approbation  all  the  time,  and  the 
attitude  of  those  who  condemn  him  is  little 
short  of  hypocritical. 

But  while  I  thoroughly  believe  in  advertise- 
ment, I  would  at  the  same  time  offer  a  word 
of  warning  to  advertisers — and  since  we  may  all, 
in  one  form  or  another,  be  included  under  that 
designation,  my  warning  is  addressed  to  every- 


The  Uses  of  Advertisement  349 

body.  In  advertising,  you  must  strike  the  right 
note  and  get  hold  of  the  right  thing  to  adver- 
tise. Your  article  must  be  what  it  professes  to 
be,  and  it  must  be  something  that  mankind 
ought  to  need.  And  this  brings  me  to  my  main 
point. 

The  superior-minded  people  I  have  already 
referred  to  object  to  modern  methods  of  adver- 
tisement chiefly,  I  gather,  on  artistic  grounds. 
But  there  is  a  certain  class  of  goods — I  speak 
with  all  reverence — the  advertising  of  which 
they  oppose,  curiously  enough,  from  an  ethical 
standpoint.  "If  you  choose  to  annoy  your  fel- 
lows," they  say  in  effect,  "  by  shouting  in  their 
ears,  at  least  confine  your  vulgar  methods  to 
vulgar  things.  It  is  undignified  and  irreverent, 
if  not  actually  blasphemous,  to  introduce  adver- 
tisement into  matters  about  which  most  people 
preserve  a  becoming  reticence,  to  strain  your 
voice  in  the  effort  to  attract  attention  to  your 
religious  wares  and  to  turn  the  House  of  God 
into  a  sort  of  theatre." 

I  pass  by  for  the  moment  the  point  that 
people  who  talk  like  this  do  not  show  them- 
selves, as  a  rule,  so  very  careful  in  other  re- 
spects of  the  Divine  dignity  or  the  reverence 
due  to  the  Creator.  But  I  should  very  much 
like  to  know  why  the  subject  of  religion  should 
be  the  only  one  tabooed  in  the  modern  world. 
I  quite  agree  that,  under  present  conditions, 
the  man  who  introduces  this  topic  in  mixed 


350  What  of  To-Day? 

society  is  generally  held  to  have  committed  a 
blunder.  And  certainly  no  thinking  man,  how- 
ever religious  he  may  be,  would  expect  to 
accomplish  any  good  by  standing  up  in  a  draw- 
ing-room and  exhorting  the  assembled  company 
to  eschew  their  frivolous  conversation  and  turn 
to  the  discussion  of  deeper  and  more  important 
subjects.  But  then  would  any  advertising  agent 
expect  to  benefit  his  firm  by  producing,  in 
analogous  circumstances,  a  sample  of  Messrs. 
Snippet's  trouserings  or  a  catalogue  of  Some- 
body's Supply  Stores  and  descanting  on  the 
merits  of  the  articles? 

The  question  is  not  one  of  taste  but  of 
expediency,  and  I,  as  a  member  of  the  oldest 
advertising  firm  in  religion  on  this  planet,  in- 
sist that  the  most  important  thing — incompar- 
ably the  most  important  thing — in  the  world  has 
as  much  right  to  be  advertised,  to  be  pushed, 
to  be  boomed,  to  be  dinned  into  men's  ears, 
as  any  other  article  that  they  need,  whether 
they  are  aware  of  their  necessity  or  not.  Fur- 
ther, in  an  age  like  this,  when  to  preserve  a 
dignified  silence  or  to  talk  in  whispers  is  about 
as  useful  for  all  practical  purposes  as  burying 
one's  talent  in  a  napkin,  I  say  it  is  the  duty  of 
all  Christian  men  to  see  that  their  religion  is 
brought  before  the  eyes  of  all  men,  and  kept 
in  the  front,  as  prominently  as  possible.  Why 
should  we  disdain  the  use  of  advertisement  in 
this  connection?  Dignified  reticence  will  not 


The  Uses  of  Advertisement  351 

induce  men  to  remember  their  God,  and  if  a 
man  needs  to  be  shouted  at  or  shaken  violently 
in  order  to  rouse  him  from  his  mental  and  un- 
spiritual  torpor  of  mind,  I  for  one  will  not  be 
afraid  to  lose  any  dignity  I  may  possess  by  try- 
ing to  make  him  hear  what  he  has  got  to  be 
told. 

Faith  comes  by  hearing,  and  if  we  do  not 
speak  and  make  our  wares  known  and  put 
them,  as  it  were,  into  the  shop  window,  how 
are  people  going  to  know  what  we  have  got  to 
offer  them?  The  Divine  Founder  of  our  reli- 
gion bade  His  followers  "Go  into  the  world 
and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature." 
Why?  Because  Christianity  possesses  wares 
which  defy  competition  and  which  are 
needed  by  everybody.  The  lapse  of  time  has 
not  affected  the  quality  of  those  wares  in  any 
way,  and  some  of  us  are  inclined  to  think  that 
mankind  is  just  as  much  in  need  of  them  now 
as  it  was  two  thousand  years  ago. 

I  wonder  if  those  worthy  people  who  de- 
precate the  advertising  of  religion  ever  ask 
themselves  what,  humanly  speaking,  would  have 
been  the  fate  of  Christianity  if  the  apostles  and 
elders  of  the  early  Church  had  neglected  the 
command  of  their  Divine  Master  to  go  forth 
and  make  every  effort  they  could  to  bring  the 
light  of  the  Gospel  into  every  home.  Why, 
those  humble  fishermen  and  their  followers  lived 
for  nothing  else  but  to  give  as  much  publicity 


352  What  of  To-Day? 

as  they  could  to  the  glorious  tidings  which  had 
been  entrusted  to  them  to  share  with  their  fellow- 
men.  What  else  did  they  do  but  advertise  to 
the  fullest  extent  of  the  means  at  their  command 
the  good  news  of  the  Gospel?  Is  it  likely  that 
St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul,  each  in  his  own  way 
burning  with  enthusiasm  to  bring  souls  to 
Christ,  would  have  omitted,  had  they  been  living 
to-day,  to  take  full  advantage  of  the  magnificent 
advertising  methods  in  vogue  among  us  now? 
The  advocates  of  "dignified  silence"  would 
have  received  short  shrift  at  their  hands,  and 
so  long  as  they  could  ensure  the  continuous 
spreading  of  the  Gospel  they  would  have 
troubled  themselves  very  little  about  any  charges 
of  irreverence  or  vulgarity  that  might  have  been 
brought  against  them. 

Though  I  do  not  deny  the  sincerity  of  many 
of  those  who  object  to  the  advertising  of  re- 
ligion, I  do  unhesitatingly  accuse  them  of  a 
certain  timidity,  a  lack  of  that  fire  and  enthusi- 
asm which  should  animate  every  Christian  soul, 
and  a  want  of  that  fighting  spirit  which  was  so 
conspicuous  in  the  early  days  of  the  Church. 
The  Christian  martyrs  had  to  submit  to  worse 
things  for  their  faith  than  the  sneers  of  the  in- 
tellectual aristocracy  of  Rome.  The  accusation 
of  vulgarity  was  not  one  that  very  greatly  dis- 
turbed their  peace  of  mind.  Yet  the  Christians 
of  our  own  day  count  it  too  much  to  endure 
for  the  sake  of  their  Master. 


The  Uses  of  Advertisement  353 

So  far  then  from  considering  this  question 
of  advertising  religion  as  one  worthy  of  discus- 
sion, my  own  position  is  that  it  is  the  bounden 
duty  of  all  sincere  followers  of  Christ  to  become, 
in  a  sense,  His  advertising  agents.  I  have  been 
called  a  great  advertiser  myself,  and  in  such  a 
manner  as  intimated  that  the  epithet  was  to  be 
regarded  as  a  reproach.  For  my  part  I  gladly 
welcome  the  designation,  for  if  the  charge  be 
true,  it  can  but  mean  that  I  have  succeeded  in 
recalling  the  attention  of  the  world — or  some 
portion  of  it  —  to  the  truths  which  it  is  in 
desperate  peril  of  forgetting  altogether. 

Is  it  an  abuse  of  advertisement  for  the 
Automobile  Association  or  the  Motor  Union 
to  place  prominent  notices  on  the  public  roads 
with  the  object  of  warning  motorists  against  a 
dangerous  corner  or  a  steep  hill?  And  if  not, 
how  can  it  be  an  abuse  of  advertisement  for  a 
Christian  man  to  use  every  means  in  his  power 
to  restrain  his  fellow-creatures  from  their  mad 
rush  to  destruction,  to  placard  the  easy  paths 
they  are  pursuing  with  warning  notices  of  the 
precipices  at  the  end,  and  to  raise  his  voice  as 
loudly  as  possible  in  inducing  them  to  take  the 
one  safe  road  which  will  bring  them,  without 
disaster,  to  their  destination  ? 

In  this,  as  in  so  many  other  matters,  all  we 

need  is  a  little  clear  thinking.     We,  as  Christians, 

cannot  afford  to  sit  at  home  with  folded  hands, 

expecting   a    distracted    public   to   inquire    after 

x 


354 


What  of  To-Day? 


our  wares  for  themselves.  Let  us  become  com- 
mercial travellers  in  the  good  things  of  God, 
and  let  us  lose  no  opportunity  of  putting  them 
in  our  shop-windows  and  in  labelling  their  price, 
worth  and  infinite  utility. 


XXXIV 
THE  FETISH  OF  SPORT 

A  GREAT  many  people  seem  to  be  obsessed 
with  the  idea  that  the  whole  aim  and  object  of 
life  is  to  obtain  unlimited  leisure,  and  further 
that  such  leisure  should  be  devoted  to  nothing 
but  recreation  and  sport.  During  the  last  twenty 
years,  and  more  particularly  the  last  ten,  the 
cult  of  sport  has  grown  so  disproportionately  as 
almost  to  overshadow  every  other  question, 
even  of  the  most  serious  national  or  imperial 
interest.  International  rivalry  in  games  is  parti- 
ally, but  by  no  means  wholly,  responsible  for 
the  present  ludicrous,  but  none  the  less 
debasing  state  of  affairs. 

No  one  can  be  more  in  favour  than  I  am 
of  a  moderate  amount  of  clean,  healthy,  physical 
recreation  for  everybody.  Such  recreation  is 
indeed  a  necessity  for  body  and  mind,  and  if  I 
had  my  way  I  would  extend  rather  than  re- 
strict the  facilities  for  playing  games,  especially 
among  the  poor.  But  that  is  a  very  different 
matter  from  taking  these  games  so  seriously  as 
to  believe  that  the  existence  of  the  Empire  is 
threatened  because  a  foreigner  wins  the  Diamond 

355 


356  What  of  To-Day? 

Sculls  at  Henley,  or  our  picked  athletes  get 
beaten  in  the  Olympic  Games. 

In  my  young  days  we  enjoyed  plenty  of 
sport,  quite  as  much  as,  if  not  more  than,  was 
good  for  us.  But  we  enjoyed  it  by  way  of  re- 
creation, not  as  a  serious  end  in  itself,  and  the 
pleasure  we  got  out  of  it  was  in  the  playing  of 
the  game,  and  not  in  the  actual  result.  Now- 
adays, to  judge  from  the  amount  of  nonsense 
one  reads  in  the  Press  on  this  subject,  it  would 
appear  that  anybody  who  is  defeated  in  a  con- 
test in  any  sort  of  sport  ought  to  be  thoroughly 
ashamed  of  himself.  It  does  not  seem  to  occur 
to  anybody  that  there  can  be  any  satisfaction  in 
having  had  a  pleasant  struggle  with  an  opponent, 
if  the  result  has  ended  in  defeat.  And  if  that 
struggle  should  chance  to  have  been  for  an  in- 
ternational championship  or  trophy,  the  beaten 
Englishman  is  apparently  expected  to  abjure  all 
forms  of  sport  for  ever. 

Recently,  it  seems — I  am  open  to  correction 
if  I  am  wrong — Englishmen  have  not  met  with 
such  all-round  success  in  competing  with  their 
foreign  rivals  as  they  should  have  done.  Other 
nations  have  taken  up  our  own  sports  and  pas- 
times and  are,  to  put  it  flippantly,  beating  us  at 
our  own  game.  This  is  all  very  sad,  though  I 
am  afraid  I  cannot  quite  grasp  its  disastrous 
significance  for  the  Empire.  However,  the  people 
who  write  about  sport  in  the  papers  (and  so,  I 
suppose,  must  understand  the  matter  far  better 


The  Fetish  of  Sport         357 

than  I  do)  have  got  their  remedy  all  cut  and 
dried.  Our  national  pride,  which,  I  gather,  has 
been  very  deeply  wounded  by  the  victories  of 
these  impertinent  foreigners,  can  easily  be  healed 
if  the  young  men  of  the  country  will  listen  to 
advice  and — take  their  sports  more  seriously! 

That  is  the  proposition.  It  rather  takes  one's 
breath  away  to  be  told  that  this  country  is  not 
entering  into  its  games  with  sufficient  serious- 
ness. Our  budding  athletes,  I  must  suppose, 
are  wasting  too  much  time  over  business  and 
other  unimportant  matters  to  be  able  to 
devote  the  proper  time  for  making  themselves 
thoroughly  efficient  on  the  playing-fields. 

Frankly,  however,  I  do  believe  this  question 
of  national  sport  is  one  that  should  be  taken 
seriously,  though  my  point  of  view  is  diametri- 
cally opposed  to  that  of  the  gentlemen  who 
write  for  the  Press.  And  in  the  first  place  I 
should  like  to  clear  the  air  by  saying  that  I 
thoroughly  believe  in  the  principle  that  what- 
ever is  worth  doing  at  all  is  worth  doing  well. 
The  schoolboy,  student  or  young  man  of  busi- 
ness ought  to  throw  himself  just  as  whole- 
heartedly into  his  games,  while  he  is  playing 
them,  as  he  does,  or  should  do,  into  his  work. 
But  in  neither  the  one  nor  the  other  should  he 
be  so  absorbed  as  to  make  it  his  whole  in- 
terest in  life.  And  in  passing  I  might  remark 
that  it  is  a  little  odd  to  find  Englishmen  at 
one  moment  being  rebuked  for  not  attending 


358  What  of  To-Day? 

to  their  commercial  interests  more  closely  and 
at  another  being  rated  because  they  cannot 
produce  an  unbeatable  champion  at  every  sport. 

For  the  slacker  or  loafer  I  have  no  tolera- 
tion, nor  has  anybody  else.  But  I  have  equally 
little  respect  for  the  misguided  individual  whose 
mind  is  so  oddly  proportioned  that  the  whole 
world  presents  itself  to  his  imagination  as  one 
vast  playing-field,  wherein  sport  is  the  one  thing 
that  really  matters.  And  into  this  frame  of 
mind,  I  verily  believe,  an  enormous  number  of 
our  young  men  to-day  are  being  led  by  the 
columns  of  slushy  nonsense  that  appear  daily  and 
weekly  in  the  public  Press  on  the  subject. 

I  shall  not  be  disturbed  if  what  I  have  to 
say  about  sport  is  set  down  as  extravagance ; 
for  to  tell  the  truth  I  do  not  think  it  is 
possible  to  be  extravagant  in  dealing  with  ex- 
cess in  any  direction.  Setting  aside  serious 
crime,  there  is  hardly  any  evil  which  is  not, 
roughly  speaking,  the  indulging  to  excess  of 
something  in  itself  quite  harmless  or  even  posi- 
tively good.  No  one  would  assert  that  wine- 
drinking,  in  strict  moderation,  is  a  sin.  Yet 
there  is  scarcely  any  vice  that  creates  such  ap- 
palling misery  as  drunkenness. 

In  the  same  way  I  maintain  that  excessive 
indulgence  in  and  devotion  to  sport  is  not  only 
injurious,  but  that  it  may  become  actually  sin- 
ful. One  frequently  meets  men  who  are  clever 
in  a.  certain  branch  of  sport  and  who  are  regarded 


The  Fetish  of  Sport         359 

by  their  friends  and  acquaintances  as  nothing 
less  than  heroes.  These  men  have  devoted 
years  and  years  to  the  development  of  a  skill  in 
recreation — a  recreation  which  has  become  a 
vice,  much  in  the  same  way  as  strong  drink  is 
unconsciously  cultivated  by  men  of  weak  minds, 
and  one  generally  finds  that  these  men  have 
very  little  in  common  with  the  ordinary  educated 
individual,  who  can  at  least  speak  sanely  upon 
most  questions.  He  who  carries  the  love  of 
sport  to  excess  can  very  seldom  think  or  con- 
verse about  any  other  subject.  His  mind  is 
warped  ;  and  no  matter  how  fair  and  straight- 
forward he  may  be  in  his  particular  game,  he 
is  committing  one  of  the  greatest  sins  by  the 
misuse  of  a  life  which  was  given  to  him  to  use 
for  the  good  of  others  and  the  glory  of  God. 

There  is  not  a  single  game  played  in  this 
country  which  I  would  condemn  as  a  form  of 
innocent  recreation,  but  I  believe  there  is  hardly 
any  popular  sport  which  could  not  be  con- 
demned on  the  ground  that  it  has  done,  or 
is  rapidly  on  the  way  to  doing,  far  more  harm 
than  good  among  its  devotees.  A  pastime  should 
only  be  regarded  as  a  health-giving  amusement 
during  one's  leisure  hours,  and  whether  the 
man  who  indulges  in  the  game  be  rich  or 
poor,  whether  he  is  worried  by  business  cares 
or  not,  whether  his  bread  and  butter  is  jeopar- 
dised by  giving  up  hours  to  play  that  could  be 
more  profitably  spent,  or  his  income  is  large 


360  What  of  To-Day? 

and  he  has  no  need  to  worry  about  the  necessaries 
of  life,  tf  ere  is  still  the  same  wrong  in  allowing 
sport  to  fill  his  mind  to  the  exclusion  of  other 
and  more  serious  thoughts. 

Nothing  could  be  farther  from  my  intention 
than  to  pose  as  a  spoil-sport,  or  to  interfere  with 
the  relaxation  and  amusement  that  the  poor,  es- 
pecially, need  so  badly.  Yet  this  growing  mania 
for  sport,  particularly  that  form  of  it  which  con- 
sists in  watching  rather  than  taking  part  in  a 
game,  is  a  species  of  excess  which,  if  persisted  in, 
may  be  just  as  bad,  morally  and  physically,  for 
the  race  as  any  other  vice.  And  the  worst  of 
the  matter  is  that  while  obvious  vices  such  as 
drunkenness  and  debauchery  of  all  kinds  are 
recognised  and  condemned,  this  insidious  disease 
is  encouraged  and  approved.  I  have  come  across 
many  young  men  who  would  far  rather  shine 
in  some  branch  of  athletics  than  rise  to  eminence 
in  their  profession  or  calling. 

For  my  part,  proud  as  I  am  of  my  country,  or 
rather  for  the  very  reason  that  I  am  proud  of 
being  an  Englishman,  I  would  be  willing  to  see 
every  English  athlete  handsomely  beaten  at  an 
Olympic  games  festival  if  the  result  would  be 
to  check  this  over-glorification  of  sport.  The 
very  terms  used  by  the  papers  in  reporting  a 
friendly  encounter  between  an  English  and  a 
foreign  "champion"  are  enough  to  make  one's 
gorge  rise.  It  is  not  only  that  the  heavy  sprawl- 
ing headlines  proclaim  "A  National  Disaster" 


The  Fetish  of  Sport         361 

or  "A  Brilliant  Triumph,"  but  the  description 
of  the  actual  play  would  be  extravagant  if  used 
in  reporting  the  progress  of  a  world-shaking 
battle.  The  endeavours  made  by  a  cricketer  or 
a  footballer  to  save  his  side  from  defeat  may 
be  very  praiseworthy,  and  are  certainly  enjoyed 
by  none  more  than  the  player  himself,  but  not 
even  by  the  most  extravagant  licence  of  language 
can  we  call  them  "  heroic."  Yet  this  is  about 
the  commonest  word  used  in  many  newspaper 
reports  to  bring  home  to  the  reader  the 
"prowess"  shown  by  their  particular  demi-god. 

All  this  overdone  and  hysterical  enthusiasm 
fosters  an  entirely  wrong  spirit  in  sport.  The 
essence  of  sportsmanship,  as  that  word  used  to 
be  understood  in  this  country,  is  unselfishness. 
But  the  hero-worship  so  commonly  indulged  in 
nowadays,  is  scarcely  calculated  to  produce 
this  quality  among  our  modern  sportsmen. 

Then  again,  take  the  morbid  glorification  of 
"  results."  As  I  have  said,  the  old-fashioned 
sportsman  recked  little  of  victory  or  defeat.  Fie 
did  his  level  best  and  strained  every  nerve  to 
win,  but  he  never  whined  at  being  beaten, 
and  he  was  the  first  to  recognise  and  applaud 
his  conqueror's  skill.  Yet  to-day  I  fear  it  is 
only  too  true  that  most  football  crowds  would 
rather  see  their  own  team  win  by  unfair  methods 
than  lose  honestly  to  a  superior  side. 

What,  however,  are  we  to  think  of  the 
financial,  or,  perhaps  I  ought  to  say,  the  busi- 


362  What  of  To-Day? 

ness  side,  which  is  so  prominent  in  modern 
sport  ?  The  question  of  gate-money  enters  so 
largely  into  sport  nowadays  that  games  are 
rapidly  becoming  nothing  more  or  less  than 
spectacular  shows,  and  a  pastime  is  judged  less 
by  the  skill  required  for  its  exposition  than  by 
its  power  to  attract  a  big  crowd  of  spectators. 

All  these  things  are  a  bad  influence,  not 
only  on  sport  itself  but  also  on  the  sporting 
spirit,  the  moral  fibre  of  the  nation.  To  put  it 
plainly,  we  are  getting  a  little  surfeited  with 
sport,  and  the  result  must  infallibly  end  in  a 
bad  attack  of  indigestion.  Already  I  observe 
ominous  signs  of  squabbling  between  the  devo- 
tees of  various  games  as  to  the  superiority  of 
their  own  particular  sport  over  all  others.  Just 
as  though  it  matters  twopence  what  sort  of 
sport  a  man  adopts  as  his  recreation,  provided 
that  he  gets  good  exercise  from  it  and  indulges 
in  it  in  moderation. 

There  is  nothing  in  this  world  worth  giving 
up  one's  whole  mind  to,  least  of  all  such  trifles 
as  should  only  occupy  a  healthy  man's  leisure 
time.  May  I  suggest  that  if  Englishmen  would 
take  their  sport  a  little  more  lightly  than  they 
are  just  now  being  urged  to  do,  and  their  reli- 
gion a  little  more  seriously,  they  would  find  not 
only  a  better  time  here  but  a  happier  eternity 
hereafter  ? 


XXXV 
"THOU    FOOL!" 

"  I  will  say  to  my  soul  :  Soul,  thou  hast  much  goods  laid 
up  for  many  years  ;  take  thy  rest,  eat,  drink,  make  good 
cheer.  But  God  said  to  him  :  Thou  fool,  this  night  do  they 
require  thy  soul  of  thee  :  and  whose  shall  those  things  be 
which  thou  hast  provided  ?  " — Luke  xii.  19,  20. 

I  AM  intensely  interested  to  know  why  the 
recording  Angel  wrote  over  this  particular 
rich  man's  grave  an  epitaph  in  four  letters, 
FOOL.  And  it  is  surely  of  some  impor- 
tance to  everybody  in  these  days  to  know  why 
this  man  was  such  a  fool.  From  a  worldly 
point  of  view  he  seems  to  have  been  quite  a 
nice  man,  one  held  in  high  esteem  like  his 
brother  Dives,  who  was  clothed  in  purple  and 
fine  linen,  and  feasted  sumptuously  every  day  in 
spite  of  the  poor  man  at  his  gate. 

Why  then  was  this  rich  man  counted  a  fool 
by  the  Angel  of  God  ?  The  trying  part  of  it 
is  this :  that  the  Angel  must  have  been  right. 
He  was  not  like  the  ordinary  man  writing  an 
epitaph  over  a  grave.  As  a  rule  there  are  more 
lies  inside  than  outside  of  a  cemetery.  But 
the  recording  Angel,  who  had  exceptional  op- 
portunities for  knowing  the  man's  whole  story, 

3*3 


364  What  of  To-Day? 

all  his  good  works,  and  all  his  shortcomings 
and  failures,  after  running  up  his  account,  wrote 
it  off:  "Thou  Fool!" 

The  thing,  I  admit,  sounds  foolish  in  the 
ears  of  the  modern  world.  The  man  was  ob- 
viously a  success  in  life.  He  had  prospered  in 
his  dealings  with  others.  And  he  certainly  was 
no  fool  for  holding  his  stock  and  not  selling 
when  there  was  a  poor  market.  The  Angel 
could  have  told  him  he  was  a  wise  man  there, 
and  he  was  a  wise  man  for  building  great 
barns  wherein  to  bestow  his  goods.  He  showed, 
in  fact,  plenty  of  business  acumen  in  that  way. 
He  made  provision  for  himself  against  a  rainy 
day,  and,  in  strict  accordance  with  the  tenets 
held  everywhere  in  the  world  to-day,  he  pro- 
posed to  make  use  of  his  riches  to  give  himself 
an  uncommonly  good  time. 

Had  he  lived  to-day  he  would  only  have 
been  following  the  example  set  him  by  many 
others  of  his  rich  friends  and  acquaintances ;  and 
he  would  undoubtedly  have  been  considerably 
astonished  and  hurt  if  anyone  had  told  him  that 
in  behaving  in  such  a  fashion  he  was  showing 
himself  to  be  nothing  but  a  fool. 

I  can  well  imagine  the  dialogue  that  might 
have  ensued. 

"My  dear  man,"  the  friendly  adviser  might 
say,  "you  are  making  every  preparation  for 
having  a  good  time.  But  suppose  you  die 
to-night?" 


"Thou  Fool!'  365 

'Well,  that's  possible,"  the  rich  man  might 
reply,  "though  it's  not  likely.  I'm  not  particu- 
larly old,  my  doctor's  just  given  me  a  clean  bill 
of  health,  my  heart's  sound  and  my  digestion's 
good.  I  can  promise  you,  my  dear  fellow, 
there's  plenty  of  life  in  the  old  dog  yet." 

'  I  don't  doubt  it,"  persists  the  friendly  ad- 
viser, "but  after  all,  people  do  die  suddenly. 
And  if  you  were  to  pop  off  to-night,  all  these 
elaborate  preparations  of  yours  would  seem  a 
bit  foolish,  wouldn't  they?" 

"Not  a  bit  of  it,"  retorts  the  other  warmly. 
'  We've  all  got  to  die  some  time,  but  what's 
the  use  of  worrying  about  it?  When  I'm  dead, 
I'm  dead,  and  there's  an  end  of  it.  Mean- 
while, like  a  sensible  man,  I've  got  to  order 
my  affairs  on  the  supposition  that  I  shall  be 
alive  to-morrow." 

"  But,  as  you  say,  you've  got  to  die  some 
time,  you  know,"  protests  his  friend,  and  the 
rich  man  bursts  into  a  laugh. 

"Of  course  I  have,"  he  agrees,  "and  that's 
just  why  I'm  going  to  have  a  rattling  good 
time  while  I  live.  We've  only  got  one  life  on 
earth,  and  I  intend  to  make  the  most  of  it." 

That,  I  take  it,  expresses  broadly  the  point 
of  view  of  this  man,  and  of  very  many  men 
and  women  of  to-day  towards  life  and  death. 
And  over  the  grave  of  that  rich  man  was 
placed  the  epitaph  "Thou  Fool!"  because  he 
ignored  the  two  cardinal  facts  of  existence — he 


366  What  of  To-Day  ? 

ignored    God    and    he   forgot    his    own    immor- 
tal soul. 

For  this  he  was  written  down  a  fool.  He 
omitted  God  from  his  scheme  of  things ;  there 
was  no  place  for  the  Almighty  in  his  programme. 
Can  anything  be  more  foolish  than  for  a  man 
to  live  as  though  there  were  no  God,  when,  as 
God's  creature,  he  belongs  to  God  absolutely 
and  entirely,  even  borrowing  from  God  his 
power  to  sin  against  Him? 

'  Every  moment  dies  a  man,"  and  the  Angel 
of  Death  is  just  as  busy  and  just  as  relentless  in 
Belgravia  or  Grosvenor  Square  as  down  in  Aid- 
gate  or  Commercial  Road.  Who  can  be  sure 
of  another  hour  of  life  ? 

There  is  only  one  Master  of  the  Household 
of  Creation,  and  He  can  ring  His  servants  up  at 
any  moment,  and,  unlike  other  servants,  His 
servants  have  to  answer  the  summons  at  once. 

We  are  often  told  that  servants  ought  to 
know  their  place.  So  they  ought,  but  are  we  not 
all  servants — the  servants  of  God,  whether  we 
have  the  prizes  of  this  life  in  our  holding  or  are 
members  of  the  sweated  league  ? 

It  is  not  for  any  one  of  us  to  say :  "I  have  so 
many  acres  and  so  many  barns,  and  such  estate 
and  such  health  and  such  prospects,  and  such 
cellars  and  such  delicate  viands,  and  so  many 
servants  and  footmen  and  chauffeurs,  that  I  can 
live  on  for  so  many  years  indulging  myself  to 
the  full."  When  God  presses  the  button,  so  to 


"Thou  Fool!'  367 

speak,  the  bell  is  heard  and  must  be  answered 
with  unerring  punctuality. 

We  all  know,  in  short,  that  we  have  got  to 
die  some  time,  even  though,  like  the  rich  Fool 
I  am  speaking  of,  we  may  not  believe  that  our 
own  turn  is  coming  just  yet.  And  what  is  more, 
though  we  may  affect  to  ignore  the  fact,  we  all 
know  there  is  a  God. 

From  the  man  in  the  street  to  the  King  upon 
his  throne,  we  are  all  conscious  of  that  one  great 
truth,  but  how  many  of  us  live  our  lives  as  though 
we  realised  it  ?  It  is  the  fashion  of  to-day  to  put 
God  outside  our  lives,  to  busy  ourselves  with 
anything  rather  than  with  the  most  important 
fact  on  earth  ;  to  place  humanity,  in  short,  where 
we  ought  to  put  our  Creator.  Some  of  us  try  to 
be  grand  before  God,  and  we  make  fools  of  our- 
selves and  the  recording  Angel  writes  again  the 
epitaph  "Thou  Fool!"  over  our  graves.  We 
are  grown  so  callous  that  we  no  longer  argue 
about  the  existence  of  God.  We  are  merely 
indifferent  to  Him.  Is  not  this  to  play  the  part 
of  a  fool? 

I  am  sorry  to  say  there  are  poor  fools  as  well 
as  rich  fools.  No  matter  on  what  rung  of  the 
social  ladder  a  man  happens  to  stand,  if  he 
ignores  God,  if  he  caters  for  his  own  life  without 
taking  God  into  consideration,  he  is  a  fool. 
That  is  why  there  is  such  folly  in  the  Press,  such 
folly  in  the  popular  magazines,  such  folly  in  the 
romantic  literature  of  the  day,  such  folly  and 


368  What  of  To-Day? 

worse  than  folly  in  the  daily  actions  of  mankind. 
The  fool  in  the  Gospel  story  lived  as  if  there 
were  no  God.  That  is  why  he  was  a  fool.  He 
congratulated  himself  on  the  fact  that  he  had 
many  more  years  in  which  to  enjoy  himself. 
Well,  we  are  all  going  to  live  for  a  great  many 
more  years.  We  are  all  going  to  live  eternal 
years,  but  not  here. 

Ask  the  average  man  if  he  is  ready  for 
death,  and  in  the  majority  of  cases  you  will  find 
that  he  is  ready — from  the  world's  point  of 
view.  He  has  made  his  will,  he  has  insured 
his  life,  he  has  taken  care,  according  to  his 
means,  that  his  wife  and  children  shall  not  be 
left  penniless,  and  if  he  is  rich  enough,  he  may 
even  have  bequeathed  a  museum  or  a  picture- 
gallery  to  his  native  town.  Oh  yes,  he  is  ready 
enough  to  die,  or  at  least  he  has,  in  his  own 
estimation,  made  all  the  preparations  he  can 
think  of  in  anticipation  of  an  early  death. 

Only  unhappily  he  has  left  out  the  most  im- 
portant of  all.  He  has  made  no  provision  for 
his  life  after  death.  He  has  lived  as  a  self-exis- 
tent and  self-sufficient  being,  without  attempting 
to  foster  his  spiritual  growth  in  order  to  enter, 
not  utterly  unequipped,  upon  his  spiritual  life. 
Did  he,  indeed,  act  with  as  little  foresight  in 
regard  to  the  things  of  this  world,  he  would 
be  the  first  to  admit  and  endorse  his  own 
folly. 

All   in    the    end    comes    back   to    this :    that 


"Thou  Fool!'  369 

men  are  learning,  with  terrible  rapidity,  to  do 
without  God,  without  religion,  without  spiritu- 
ality. Shocking  as  it  sounds,  they  are  even 
becoming  proud  of  the  fact  that  they  are 
so  thoroughly  self-reliant.  So  much  has  been 
achieved  during  the  last  century  on  the  purely 
material  plane,  that  man  is  now  accustoming 
himself  to  the  thought  that  there  is  nothing  im- 
possible for  human  effort  to  achieve,  and  if 
that  be  so,  he  reasons,  why  trouble  about  the 
spiritual  or  the  supernatural? 

All  classes  are  more  and  more  adopting  the 
Fool's  motto  :  "  Eat,  drink,  and  be  merry,  for 
to-morrow  we  die."  More  and  more  does  the 
modern  world  strive  after  the  most  feverish  and 
fleeting  of  pleasures,  more  and  more  does  the 
craving  for  momentary  excitement  increase,  and 
with  every  year  that  passes  the  dance  of  life 
grows  madder  and  more  furious. 

For  many  hundreds  of  years  the  world  pro- 
fited by  the  teaching  of  Christ  and  His  Church. 
Though  men  might  find  it  hard  to  act  up  to 
the  Christian  ideal,  they  at  least  sincerely  believed 
in  a  future  life.  There  may  have  been  as  many 
profligate  men  and  women  in  any  past  age  as 
there  are  to-day,  but  it  has  been  reserved  for 
our  generation  to  furnish  the  amazing  spectacle 
of  nations  deliberately  shouldering  God  aside, 
as  a  thing  of  no  account. 

We  boast  that  we  have  out-grown  the  super- 
stitions of  the  past.  We  point  with  pride  to 
Y 


37° 


What  of  To-Day  ? 


our  empty  churches  as  proof  that  we  prefer 
reasonable  recreation  on  Sunday  to  giving  up 
an  hour  or  two  of  our  leisure  time  to  our 
Creator.  We  plume  ourselves  upon  the  fact  that 
we  have  emancipated  ourselves  from  the  "  priestly 
shackles"  which  bound  our  fathers.  Are  we  so 
sure  that  upon  our  graves  also  the  recording 
Angel  will  not  write  that  scathing  epitaph  : 
"Thou  Fool!"? 


XXXVI 

A  MESSAGE  FROM  BETHLEHEM 

ALL  history  finds  its  centre  in  the  crib  of 
Bethlehem.  Whatever  does  not  converge  to  it 
radiates  from  it.  History  is  summed  up  in  the 
story  of  the  Incarnation. 

What  a  strange  experience  for  a  King  visiting 
His  people,  to  find  He  was  not  wanted  !  And 
yet  that  was,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  Christ's  first 
experience  upon  earth.  "  He  was  in  the  world, 
and  the  world  was  made  by  Him,  and  the  world 
knew  Him  not.  He  came  unto  His  own,  and 
His  own  received  Him  not."  'There  is  no 
room,"  was  the  cry,  when  He  sought  shelter. 
Yes,  there  was  no  room  two  thousand  years  ago, 
and  to-day  practically  the  same  cry  is  taken  up, 
"  There  is  no  room."  Jesus  Christ  still  finds 
He  is  not  wanted. 

It  may  be  asked  why,  then,  was  "the  Word 
made  flesh,"  and  why  "  dwelt  He  amongst  us,"  if 
He  was  not  wanted,  if  He  was  not  to  find  room 
among  His  own  ?  Do  you  ask  me  why  He,  the  In- 
finite, became  finite,  why  the  Son  of  God  became 
the  Son  of  Man  ;  in  a  word,  why  *'  the  Word  was 
made  flesh  and  dwelt  amongst  us  "  ?  It  was 

371 


372  What  of  To-Day? 

because  He  could  not  keep  away.  If  we  did 
not  want  Him,  He  wanted  us.  He,  the  Great 
Physician,  knew  what  was  in  man,  and  He  knew 
it  was  not  pleasure,  it  was  not  gold,  it  was  not 
place  that  man  really  wanted.  God  was  man's 
want ;  his  term  of  arrival  being  God,  his  way  also 
must  be  by  God.  "I  am  the  Way,  the  Truth, 
and  the  Life."  God  came  to  visit  His  people, 
says  Zachary,  "to  enlighten  them  that  sit  in 
darkness  and  in  the  shadow  of  death,  and  to 
direct  our  feet  in  the  way  of  peace." 

Yes,  not  only  is  Jesus  Christ  the  King  of 
Glory,  but  He  is  also  the  Prince  of  Peace.  On 
that  still  midnight  the  coming  was  heralded  by 
a  host  of  Angels  to  the  shepherds  keeping  the 
night  watch  over  their  sheep.  Then  broke 
through  the  silence  of  the  midnight  air  the 
message,  "  Behold,  I  bring  you  tidings  of  great 
joy,  that  shall  be  to  all  the  people,  for  this  day  is 
born  to  you  a  Saviour  "  ;  then  the  whole  chorus 
of  angelic  bands  lit  up  the  darkness  with 
splendour,  as  they  intoned  the  hymn,  "  Glory 
to  God  on  high,  and  on  earth  peace  to  men." 
God  had  come  to  visit  His  people,  starting  with 
the  poorest  of  the  poor.  What  a  sight  it  was  for 
the  simple,  humble-minded  shepherds!  Well 
might  they  exclaim,  "  Let  us  go  over  and  see  this 
that  is  come  to  pass  "  ;  and  well  may  we  re-echo 
their  words  in  the  chorus  of  the  Christian  hymn, 
Venite  adoremus,  "Come,  let  us  adore!" 

To  you  also,  my  friends,  I  extend  the  invita- 


A  Message  from  Bethlehem  373 

tion.  Let  us,  in  company  with  these  chosen 
courtiers  of  the  Lord,  seek  the  rock-hewn  cave. 
Put  aside  all  intellectual  pride  ;  open  the  eyes 
of  faith,  and  see  the  great  sight  revealed  to 
babes  and  little  ones ;  a  Divine  Infant  wrapped 
in  swaddling  clothes  and  laid  in  a  manger;  yes, 
laid  in  a  manger  borrowed,  not  from  man,  but 
from  the  beasts,  from  the  ox  and  the  ass.  O 
wonder  of  wonders  !  O  mystery  of  mysteries ! 
Behold  the  Incomprehensible,  the  Omnipotent, 
the  Everlasting,  whom  the  heavens  cannot  con- 
tain, shrinking  to  the  proportions  of  a  Babe,  lying 
altogether  helpless  in  the  straw  of  His  manger- 
cradle  !  Aptly  do  we  read  in  the  revealed  word, 
"His  name  shall  be  called  Wonderful!  ' 

Let  us  for  a  moment  glance  round,  and  see 
what  sort  of  a  place  it  is  which  the  Omnipotent 
has  chosen  for  His  first  resting-place  on  earth. 
His  palace  a  stable ;  His  courtiers  the  ox  and 
the  ass !  And  what  are  the  names  of  the  four 
friends  closest  to  Him,  whom  He  has  chosen 
to  be  His  intimates,  while  He  sojourns  upon 
this  earth?  Let  me  introduce  you  to  them. 
Many  of  you  know  them  not.  They  are  alto- 
gether unfamiliar  to  the  votaries  of  pleasure,  to 
the  world  of  fashion,  though  among  the  humble 
and  the  faithful  their  names  are  as  household 
words.  The  four  friends  who  are  so  intimately 
associated  with  the  name  of  Jesus  are,  Humility 
and  Poverty,  Purity  and  Charity. 

See  how  Jesus  Christ  identifies  Himself  with 


374  What  of  To-Day? 

Humility.  Has  He  not  humbled  Himself  as  a 
little  child  ?  Will  He  not,  later  on,  submit  to 
the  law  of  circumcision  ?  Will  He  not  for  thirty 
years  and  more  lead  His  lowly  life  in  the  ob- 
scurest village  of  Galilee  in  Palestine  ?  And 
when  He  goes  forth  from  His  dear  home  among 
the  hills,  shall  we  not  see  Him  tempted,  almost 
as  we  are,  by  the  Evil  One  ?  Will  He  any 
more  than  ourselves  escape  the  malice  of  enemies 
and  the  jealousy  of  false  friends  ?  Ah,  if  you 
want  to  see  Him  in  His  supreme  act  of  humility, 
watch  Him  as  He  sinks  to  His  knees  before  the 
arch-traitor  and  washes  the  feet  of  him  who  will 
presently  hurry  off  to  commit  the  act  of  treachery 
that  will  end  in  self-slaughter!  When  we,  who 
profess  to  be  His  followers,  gaze  upon  this  pic- 
ture of  Jesus  kneeling  before  the  traitor,  we 
may  well  feel  confused,  not  knowing  where  to 
find  our  own  right  place.  "He  humbled  Him- 
self" ;  He  made  Humility  His  bosom  friend. 
But  Poverty  is  no  less  dear  to  Jesus  than 
Humility.  We  have  already  seen  the  poverty 
of  His  birthplace ;  but  even  from  it  He  will 
soon  be  evicted  and  forced  to  exchange  His 
own  chosen  country  for  that  of  the  Egyptians. 
Poverty !  Who  so  poor  as  Jesus  Christ  ?  Look 
at  Him  later  on,  as  He  stands  knee-deep  in  the 
wood-shavings  till  the  sweat  pours  from  His 
brow.  He  must  work  to  help  to  keep  a  roof 
over  His  poor  Mother's  head.  But  Nazareth 
is  luxury  compared  with  His  future  home,  for 


A  Message  from  Bethlehem  375 

when  He  went  forth  on  His  missionary  tour, 
the  canopy  of  heaven  was  often  the  only  roof 
beneath  which  He  prayed  and  slept.  '  The 
foxes  have  holes  and  the  birds  have  nests,  but 
the  Son  of  Man,"  as  He  Himself  declared, 
"hath  no  place  whereon  to  lay  His  head." 
When  at  length  His  countrymen  did  find  Him 
a  bed  on  which  to  agonise  and  die  it  was  a 
wooden  cross,  with  a  Crown  of  Thorns  for  a 
pillow,  while  the  fierce  noonday  sun  burned 
into  His  bleeding  wounds  till  death  came  to 
His  relief. 

Look  where  we  may,  we  can  never  find 
poverty  like  that  to  which  Our  Lord  was  wedded 
Why,  even  the  pauper  may  claim  a  grave,  but 
not  Jesus  Christ,  whom  they  stripped  of  all  He 
had — I  was  going  to  say  of  all  He  was ;  for 
they  stripped  Him  of  His  clothes,  and  they 
stripped  Him  of  His  skin,  and  they  wellnigh 
stripped  Him  of  His  flesh — and  when  He  was 
buried,  it  was  in  a  grave  lent  Him  by  a  friend. 
"  He  loved  Poverty,"  Poverty  was  His  friend 
till  death. 

Again,  observe  how  dear  to  Jesus  is  Purity. 
He  is  born  of  a  Virgin  Mother,  and  He  chooses 
a  virgin  for  His  foster-father  ;  while  the  friend 
whom  He  takes  to  His  bosom  as  the  beloved 
disciple  is  the  virgin  John.  If  there  are  those 
outside  Christianity  who  deny  the  virgin  birth 
of  Our  Divine  Lord,  they  perhaps  do  so  be- 
cause with  them  "  Miracles  do  not  happen," 


376  What  of  To-Day? 

Disbelief  in  the  virgin  birth  means  tossing  to 
the  winds  the  Gospels  themselves,  for  are  we 
not  in  the  first  and  third  Synoptic  Gospels  told 
that  Jesus  was  born  of  a  Virgin  Mother?  We 
have  the  account  of  it  both  on  Joseph's  side 
and  on  the  side  of  the  Blessed  Virgin.  They 
who  quarrel  with  the  account  do  so  on  what 
they  are  pleased  to  call  their  principles  ;  because 
it  is  a  miracle.  But  it  is  only  one  of  the  count- 
less miracles  that  go  to  make  up  the  mystery 
of  the  Incarnation.  To  me  it  would  be  a  greater 
miracle  to  try  and  account  for  the  universal 
belief  in  the  virgin  birth  by  ascribing  it  to  a 
myth  rather  than  to  the  Gospel. 

The  very  best  proof  of  our  dear  Lord's  ap- 
preciation and  love  of  Purity  lies  in  His  attitude 
of  pity  and  compassion  for  those  who  by  sin 
have  lost  this  precious,  priceless  friend.  Jesus 
is  in  a  very  special  way  the  sinners'  Friend, 
because  He  is  the  One,  the  only  One,  who  is 
able  to  restore  them  to  the  friendship  of  Purity 
when  once  that  friendship  has  been  lost.  "  He 
loved  Purity"  :  Purity  was  the  friend  of  His 
heart. 

And  now,  lastly,  let  me  introduce  you  to  a 
fourth  friend,  knit  into  the  very  Heart  of  Our 
Saviour :  Charity,  or,  as  we  sometimes  call  it, 
Love.  What  has  drawn  the  God  of  Heaven  down 
to  earth  ?  Why,  it  is  love  :  "  God  so  loved  the 
world."  Why  did  He  court  humiliations,  priva- 
tions, and  sufferings?  Because  "He  loved  me, 


A  Message  from  Bethlehem  377 

and  He  gave  Himself  up  for  me."  And  tell  me  : 
why  did  He  submit  to  the  scourge,  the  thorns, 
the  nails,  and  the  cross?  Because,  "  having  loved 
His  own,  He  loved  them  to  the  end."  Yes,  Jesus 
Christ  passes  through  every  phase  of  love  to  its 
consummation  in  self-sacrifice.  It  is  when  He  has 
reached  this  last  stage  in  His  life  of  love,  and  is 
actually  expiring  on  the  cross,  that  we  picture 
Him  with  arms  extended  and  with  heart  broken 
and  pierced  repeating  to  the  world:  "Greater 
love  than  this  no  man  hath." 

Now,  let  me  ask  a  short,  simple  question. 
If  Jesus  Christ  were  to  visit  us  once  more,  if 
He  were  to  come  unto  His  own,  should  we 
have  once  more  to  write,  "  And  His  own 
received  Him  not"?  Should  we  tell  Him, 
were  He  to  knock  at  our  door,  "There  is 
no  room"?  I  much  fear  Our  Lord's  second 
coming  would  find  no  better  welcome  than 
His  first.  Why,  He  has  actually  come !  He 
is  in  our  midst:  "There  hath  stood  One  in 
the  midst  of  you,  whom  you  know  not."  The 
world  still  cries  out,  "  We  will  not  have  this 
Man  to  rule  over  us."  Worldlings  like  neither 
Him  nor  His  friends — Humility,  Poverty,  Purity, 
and  Charity.  But  let  us  divest  ourselves  of  the 
worldly  spirit.  Let  us  renounce  all  ambition  for 
the  things  of  time  and  sense.  Let  us  cleave  to 
Christ. 

Let  us  make  an  attempt  this  Christmas  to  deny 
ourselves,  so  as  to  make  more  room  in  the  inn  of 


378  What  of  To-Day  ? 

our  hearts  for  Jesus  Christ.  'Bid  the  beasts  within 
you,  your  passions,  bow  down  and  adore.  Sum- 
mon the  four  royal  Friends  as  attendant  spirits  to 
come  and  open  wide  their  gates  and  sing  to  Him 
the  hymn  of  the  Incarnation,  Gloria  in  Excelsis. 
Invite  Him  to  your  homes,  hold  Him  for  ever  in 
possession,  offer  Him  all  you  have  and  all  you  are. 
Be  not  a  niggard  of  your  gifts.  Lay  before  Him 
your  freedom,  your  memory,  your  will,  and  your 
whole  hearts.  And  from  time  to  time  test  the 
reality  of  your  love  of  Him  by  your  devotedness 
to  His  four  inseparable  Friends.  Let  us  study 
their  lessons,  follow  them,  love  them ;  for,  in  the 
measure  of  our  love  to  His  friends  during  our 
sojourn  here,  we  shall  be  able  to  gauge  the 
room  there  is  in  our  hearts  for  Him. 

"  Not  what  we  give,  but  what  we  share, 
For  the  gift  without  the  giver  is  bare  ; 
Who  gives  himself,  with  his  alms  feeds  three  : 
Himself,  his  famishing  neighbour,  and  Me." 


XXXVII 
"WATCHMAN,  WHAT  OF  THE  NIGHT?" 

LIKE  the  Edomites  of  old,  we,  too,  at  the  present 
moment  are  standing,  as  it  were,  in  a  beleaguered 
city,  waiting,  hoping,  and  praying  for  the  dawn, 
with  the  question  rising  on  our  lips  and  in  our 
anxious  hearts,  "What  of  the  night?"  And  to  us 
also  comes  the  double-edged  reply,  "The  morning 
cometh,  and  also  the  night."  To  the  sad,  the 
sick  and  the  downtrodden,  to  all  who  are  lifting 
streaming  eyes  and  outstretched  hands  to  those 
they  think  can  help  them,  that  same  answer  is 
the  only  possible  one.  Every  mortal  must  be 
prepared  to  meet  with  rain  and  shine,  joy  and 
sorrow,  success  and  failure,  defeat  and  triumph. 
And  especially  in  such  a  night  as  is  now  over- 
shadowing the  world,  must  we  be  ready  with 
stout  hearts  and  enduring  minds  to  face  what- 
ever the  future  may  hold  in  store. 

But  we  must  be  on  our  guard  equally  against 
an  over-comfortable  optimism  and  a  too-hopeless 
pessimism — the  two  philosophies  of  life  which 
seem  to  find  favour  with  many,  yet  both  of 
which  contain  a  false  note  of  prophecy.  We 
must  beware  of  the  too-glib  optimist,  disguised 

379 


380  What  of  To-Day? 

under  a  hundred  fancy  names,  who  pretends 
that,  after  this  war,  we  shall  need  only  to 
adopt  his  particular  social,  political,  or  ethical 
programme  to  ensure  a  return  of  the  Golden 
Age  and  an  era  of  universal  prosperity  and 
peace. 

"The  morning  cometh!"  How  often  has 
not  that  cry  rung  in  the  ears  of  suffering 
humanity !  How  often  has  not  mankind  been 
told  that  it  is  standing  at  the  gates  of  the 
Promised  Land !  And  how  often  has  it  not 
had  cause  to  know  that  the  Earthly  Paradise  is 
not  to  be  found,  and  that  for  every  evil  that  we 
abolish  there  arise  a  dozen  new  ones ;  for  every 
craving  we  satisfy,  a  hundred  fresh  desires  spring 
up  in  our  restless  hearts.  With  the  poet,  let  us 
remember  that, 

"In   trying  to   undo   one   riddle 
And  to  find  the  true, 
We  knit  a  hundred  others  new." 

Yes,  the  morning  cometh,  but  listen  to  the 
mocking  voice,  "And  also  the  night." 

And  turn  for  a  moment  to  the  prophetic 
utterances  of  the  other  school — that  of  the 
pessimist.  It  is  a  philosophy  which  may  danger- 
ously attract  many  whom  this  war  has  hurt 
in  their  business  and  their  pocket,  or  in  the 
loss  of  a  dearly-loved  relative  or  friend.  But 
primarily,  pessimism  as  a  creed  is  held  by  the 
slave  of  pleasure  sick  and  satiated  with  his  ever- 


"What  of  the  Night?"      381 

lasting  banquet,  by  the  materialist  with  his  shallow 
gospel  of  despair,  and  by  the  cynic,  the  mis- 
anthrope and  the  egoist,  who  see  no  hope  for 
the  human  race  because  they  have  no  sympathy, 
no  feeling  for  their  joys  and  sorrows.  These 
are  the  pessimists  who  proclaim  that  virtue  is 
hypocrisy,  that  religion  is  a  snare  and  that  we 
are  but  as  sailors  voyaging  on  a  rudderless  vessel, 
destined  to  inevitable  shipwreck  on  the  rocks 
of  death.  We  have  no  pilot,  we  have  no  com- 
pass, we  have  no  soul,  we  have  no  God.  To 
those  who  seek  for  comfort  they  have  but  one 
reply,  "And  also  the  night!  " 

Happily,  the  school  of  pessimism  has  never 
been  able  to  command  the  audience  it  has 
striven  so  hard  to  obtain.  Indeed  if  such  a 
creed  were  ever  to  get  hold  of  the  mass  of 
civilised  mankind,  the  stream  of  life  would  be 
poisoned  at  its  source.  The  only  light  left 
upon  earth  would  be  the  phosphorescence  of 
corruption,  or  the  corpse  lights  flitting  to  and 
fro  over  the  graves  of  Faith,  Hope  and  Love. 

"  We  feel,  although  we  cannot  prove, 
That  every  cloud  that  spreads  above 
And  veileth  Love,  .itself  is  love." 

That  is  the  true  antidote  to  pessimism  and 
one  that  in  normal  times  is  effective.  But 
these  are  not  normal  times,  and  it  may  well 
be  that  the  doctrine  of  despair,  in  one  or 
other  of  its  forms,  may  find  an  entrance  into 


382  What  of  To-Day? 

many  a  mind  that,  in  more  peaceful  days, 
would  have  rejected  it  without  a  second  thought. 
We  must  be  on  our  guard,  then,  against 
harbouring  this  delusion,  one  even  more  dan- 
gerous than  an  unreasoning  optimism.  We 
must  avoid  both  the  Scylla  and  Charybdis  of 
conduct. 

Both  are  harmful,  because  both  are  false. 
The  gospel  of  the  optimist  is  false  because  it 
ignores  all  that  is  implied  in  the  story  of  the 
fall  of  man ;  the  gospel  of  the  pessimist  is  false 
because  it  ignores  all  that  is  comprehended  in 
the  story  of  man's  redemption.  There  is  only 
one  true  philosophy  of  life,  and  it  is  comprised 
in  that  question  and  answer  of  a  day  now  long 
fled:  "Watchman,  what  of  the  night?  The 
morning  cometh,  and  also  the  night."  Neither 
buoyed  up  with  delusive  hopes  nor  unduly 
cast  down  by  an  unreasoning  despair,  we  must 
tread  with  firm  and  patient  step  our  appointed 
road,  relying  not  on  ourselves  alone,  but  put- 
ting our  faith  in  the  Power  from  which  we 
have  only  to  ask,  to  receive  all  the  strength 
and  support  we  need.  In  His  own  way,  God 
always  answers  the  sinner's  prayer.  "A  contrite 
and  humble  heart  Thou  wilt  not  despise." 

I  cannot  forbear  to  quote  in  this  connection 
the  memorable  words  of  Pius  X. — that  saintly 
soul  whose  recent  passing  away  is  mourned 
by  the  whole  of  Christendom. 

"We  are   terrified,"  he  wrote,  "beyond  all 


"What  of  the  Night?"      383 

else,  by  the  disastrous  state  of  Society  to-day. 
For  who  can  fail  to  see  that  Society  is  at  the 
present  time,  more  than  in  any  past  age,  suf- 
fering from  a  terrible  and  deep-rooted  malady 
which,  developing  every  day  and  eating  into 
its  inmost  being,  is  dragging  it  to  destruction  ? 
The  disease  is  apostasy  from  God,  than  which 
nothing  is  more  allied  to  ruin.  For  behold, 
they  that  go  far  from  Thee  shall  perish. 

"This  is  the  night.  But  '  the  morning 
cometh.' 

"We  take  courage  in  Him  who  strengthens 
us ;  and  setting  ourselves  to  work,  we  proclaim 
that  we  have  no  other  programme  but  that  of 
'restoring  all  things  in  Christ,'  so  that  'Christ 
may  be  all  in  all  '  ....  His  interests  shall 
be  our  interests,  and  for  these  we  are  resolved 
to  spend  all  our  strength,  and,  if  need  be, 
our  life." 

Apostasy  from  God!  There,  in  a  phrase,  is 
summed  up  the  error  both  of  the  optimist  and 
of  the  pessimist.  Pride  is  the  sin  of  one, 
despair  is  the  sin  of  the  other,  and  each  is 
the  result  of  turning  away  from  the  Almighty 
Father.  In  that  robust  rallying  cry  of  Pius  X. 
you  will  find  neither  the  self-sufficiency  of  the 
optimist  nor  the  despondency  of  the  pessimist, 
but  only  the  hope  and  trustfulness  of  the  man 
who  puts  his  faith  in  a  higher  Power — in  God. 

Looking  down  from  his  watch-tower  upon  a 
world  troubled  and  tried  in  the  dark  night  of 


384  What  of  To-Day  ? 

adversity  by  a  storm  of  conflicting  passions,  the 
watchman  can  bravely  make  answer  to  our 
appeal,  '  The  morning  cometh,  and  also  the 
night."  We  are  to  expect  neither  the  best 
nor  the  worst.  Our  part  is  to  be  ready  for  all 
things  that  may  befall  us,  being  neither  puffed 
up  with  prosperity  nor  unduly  cast  down  by 
adversity,  but  putting  our  trust  in  One  who 
never  failed  his  children  yet. 

"  Well  roars  the  storm  to  those  who  hear 
A  deeper  voice  across  the  storm." 

We  must  arise  and  be  up  and  doing.  "Take 
up  your  cross  and  follow  Me,"  said  Christ. 
Do  not  the  evil  days  through  which  we  are 
passing  help  us  to  understand  what  He  meant 
by  those  words?  Let  us  put  our  hearts  into  our 
work,  realise  our  mission,  and,  though  the  night 
be  dark,  plunge  into  it  and  go  forward  to  meet 
the  dawn  of  day.  If  we  are  Christians  we 
must  follow  Christ.  And  if  we  are  to  follow 
Christ,  we  must  renounce  a  life  of  unbroken 
ease  and  peace,  which  means  corruption.  If 
we  are  to  be  Christian  men  and  women,  we 
must  live  the  Christ  life,  think  the  Christ  thought, 
foster  the  Christ  love,  be  the  Christ  character. 
Neither  victory  nor  defeat  must  have  power  to 
shake  our  souls,  for  the  one  will  not  wholly 
rid  the  earth  of  evil  nor  will  the  other  mean 
the  ultimate  triumph  of  darkness.  'The  morn- 
ing cometh,  and  also  the  night."  If  that 


"What  of  the  Night?"      385 

answer  holds  a  word  of  cheer  for  us,  it  also 
gives  us  a  note  of  warning.  Let  us  pay  heed 
to  both. 

i  When  I  look  towards  the  battle-fields  where 
our  brothers  are  fighting,  waist-deep  in  muddy 
trenches,  and  facing  bullet  and  shell  with  un- 
daunted courage  and  coolness,  I  cannot  but  ask 
myself:  "And  what  art  thou,  my  soul,  pre- 
pared to  endure  for  thy  Home  beyond  the  stars 
and  for  Christ,  thy  Captain-King?  Arise,  and 
quit  thyself  as  a  Christian  man  and  a  Christian 
soldier."— "  ESTO  MILES." 


XXXVIII 
THE  OLD  SPIRIT 

I  HAVE  now  set  down,  though,  as  I  am  conscious, 
in  a  wholly  inadequate  fashion,  some  thoughts  on 
the  New  Spirit  which  has  been  permeating  this 
age,  and  on  the  consequences  which  are  already 
beginning  to  manifest  themselves,  as  well  as  on 
those  which  are  not  yet  plainly  visible.  I  say 
again,  as  I  said  at  the  beginning  of  this  book, 
that  I  am  not  one  of  those  hide-bound  reaction- 
aries who  are  opposed  to  progress,  who  fail  to 
recognise  that  humanity  must  go  forward  if  it  is 
not  to  go  back,  and  who  offer  an  obstinate  and 
stupid  resistance  to  all  forms  of  new  energy  and 
enterprise  on  the  part  of  mankind. 

But,  while  heartily  welcoming  all  new  things 
that  are  good,  I  will  make  no  compromise,  I 
will  have  no  truck  with  what  I  recognise  to  be 
not  progress  but  retrogression,  the  more  deadly 
if  it  be  spiritual  rather  than  material.  That 
word  "  progress  "  has  so  obsessed  our  imagin- 
ation that  we  are  apt  nowadays  to  regard  any 
reversal  of  established  conventions,  any  upsetting 
of  settled  ideas,  as  indicating  an  advance  towards 
some  mysterious  goal  of  perfection.  So  ignorant 

386 


The  Old  Spirit  387 

are  we,  moreover,  in  spite  of  all  our  boasted 
education,  that  not  in  one,  but  in  almost  every 
instance,  what  we  are  pleased  to  think  of  as 
wonderfully  fresh  and  original  views,  as  a  new 
outlook  upon  life,  and  all  the  rest  of  it,  are  but 
repetitions  of  what  our  wiser  forefathers  long 
ago  examined  and  rejected. 

This  New  Spirit,  then,  which  has  shown  itself 
in  many  ways,  but  may,  not  inaptly,  be  summed 
up  as  the  Spirit  of  Unrest — this  New  Spirit,  I  say, 
must  not  be  taken  on  trust  as  truly  progressive 
or  excellent  merely  because  it  is  new.  I  have 
shown — or  at  least  I  have  done  my  best  to 
show — that  it  is  bad,  that,  if  encouraged,  it  will 
bring  both  the  race  and  the  country  to  ruin, 
moral,  material  and  spiritual,  and  that  whatever 
good  there  may  be  in  it  is  hopelessly  over- 
shadowed by  the  evil. 

Again  and  again  in  these  pages  I  have  de- 
manded of  my  readers  to  look  around  them  and 
consider  the  symptoms  of  this  hurried  unrestful 
age — this  age  of  headlines,  snapshots,  taxicabs 
and  music-halls,  when  all  is  fever,  fret  and 
fume,  when  competition  is  so  keen,  and  the 
margin  of  profit  so  fine,  and  the  desire  for 
luxury  so  eager,  that  the  one  cry  beating  through 
the  air  is  "  hurry  up." 

We  are  living  in  a  day  when  high  ideals  are 
yielding  to  the  pressure  of  creature  comforts, 
when  principle  is  being  exchanged  for  expedi- 
ency ;  in  a  day  when  self-sacrificing  Christianity  is 


388  What  of  To-Day  ? 

being  bartered  for  self-centred  materialism,  when 
the  sense  of  sin  is  regarded  as  a  worn-out  super- 
stition ;  in  a  day  when  it  matters  not  what  you 
believe,  but  only  what  you  do,  and  when  you 
may  do  what  you  like  provided  you  are  not 
found  out ;  in  a  day  when  the  relations  between 
the  sexes  takes  one  back  to  pagan  times,  while 
the  garbage  on  which  men  and  women  feed  is 
as  loathsome  as  the  stuff  over  which  they  gloat 
and  chatter  ;  in  a  day  when  there  is  no  empty 
place  but  in  the  cradle,  no  room  in  which  to 
move  but  in  the  churches. 

Such  is,  in  part,  the  effect  of  this  New  Spirit, 
and  for  confirmation  of  my  words  I  would  ask 
you  to  read  the  story  of  present  day  life  as  it 
is  reflected  in  society,  as  it  is  mirrored  forth  on 
the  stage,  as  it  is  shown  in  the  law-courts,  as  it 
is  writ  large  on  our  bookstalls,  as  it  is  published 
in  the  society  journals,  in  the  magazines,  in  the 
daily  press. 

Well  may  we  ask  ourselves  whither  are  we 
drifting,  with  God  out  of  sight,  and  the  roar  of 
the  cataract  distinctly  heard  beyond  the  rapids 
over  which  we  are  being  swept  in  our  toy  boats 
of  frivolity  and  folly.  It  would  seem  that  the 
sons  of  men  who  love  vanity  and  seek  after  lying 
are  no  more  interested  in  their  whither  than  in 
their  whence.  All  that  they  desire  is  that  they 
may  be  permitted  to  go  on  their  mad  way, 
with  no  speed  limit  imposed  on  them.  Nor  do 
they  care  when  or  where  the  end  of  their 


The  Old  Spirit  389 

journey  may  be,  if  they  are  able  to  revel  during 
every  moment  of  the  time  allotted  to  them  in 
this  world. 

Such,  I  say,  are  the  effects  of  this  Spirit  of 
Unrest  which  has  taken  such  a  grip  upon  the 
minds,  the  souls,  and  the  bodies  of  our  genera- 
tion. It  is  not  only  time  to  call  a  halt,  to  clap 
on  all  the  brakes,  and  to  bring  the  whole 
machine  to  a  sudden  standstill.  We  must  do 
more  than  that.  We  must  get  out  of  this  mad- 
dening motor-car,  and  retrace  our  steps,  pain- 
fully, and  with  much  effort,  if  need  be,  till  we 
take  our  stand  once  more  upon  the  summit  of 
that  hill  whence  we  have  been  dashing  at  such 
breakneck  speed  into  the  valley  of  desolation 
and  death. 

When  I  started  to  write  on  this  subject,  I 
pointed  out  that  there  was  much  to  admire  in 
the  New  Spirit,  in  spite  of  its  deplorable  mani- 
festations in  many  directions.  Yet  all  that  is 
bad  in  it  comes  from  itself,  and  all  that  is  good 
in  it  springs,  I  say  it  unhesitatingly,  from  the  Old 
Spirit,  the  Spirit  of  Love  and  Self-sacrifice,  the 
Spirit  of  Restraint  and  Discipline,  the  Spirit 
that  was  once  revered  and  honoured  throughout 
this  broad  land,  the  Spirit  that  was  revealed  to 
man  nearly  two  thousand  years  ago  on  the  Hill 
of  Calvary. 

What  is  there  about  this  Old  Spirit  that  my 
countrymen  should  reject  it  to-day  as  unmanly, 
and  lacking  in  strength  and  vitality?  It  is  a 


390  What  of  To-Day? 

question  of  words,  I  suppose,  for  assuredly  I, 
for  one,  can  see  nothing  manly  in  immorality, 
nothing  virile  in  vice,  nothing  noble  or  worthy 
of  respect  in  the  unchecked  licence  which 
masquerades  under  the  title  of  liberty.  In  what 
respect  did  the  Old  Spirit — the  Spirit  of  Chris- 
tianity— ever  fail  in  helping  and  strengthening 
mankind  in  its  daily  troubles,  its  daily  toils,  its 
daily  sorrows  ?  If  there  was  evil  in  the  world 
when  the  Old  Spirit  reigned,  I  cannot  see  that 
the  world  is  any  happier  to-day;  nor  was  that 
evil  the  result  of  the  Old  Spirit,  rather  was  it 
the  consequence  of  the  failure  of  mankind  to 
live  up  to  that  ideal.  Nevertheless,  they  had 
their  ideal,  and  they  were  the  better  men  for  it. 

Perhaps  owing  to  its  restlessness,  this  New 
Spirit  is  very  energetic  in  its  preaching  of  the 
doctrine  of  "  Hustle."  There  was  a  time  when 
"  Slow  and  Sure  "  was  England's  motto — and  a 
very  good  motto  it  was  too.  However,  not  alto- 
gether owing  to  England's  fault — for  I  recog- 
nise that  the  press  of  foreign  competition  must 
be  met — -that  motto  has  been  abandoned,  and 
thoroughness  has  had  to  give  place  to  rapidity. 
Disastrous  as  the  consequences  of  this  policy  of 
driving  men  must  be  in  the  long  run,  there  is 
one  cant  phrase  of  the  day,  not  so  often  prac- 
tised, by  the  way,  as  preached,  which  we  might 
all  follow  with  advantage. 

"Do  it  Now  !  "  That  is  the  new  catchword, 
and  I,  personally,  have  nothing  to  say  against 


The  Old  Spirit  391 

it,  provided  that  the  thing  to  be  done  is  worth 
the  doing.  But  of  how  many  of  the  matters 
connected  with  the  business,  the  pleasure,  or 
the  daily  routine  of  our  lives  can  we  say  that 
with  truth  ?  Duties  there  are  which  have  to  be 
performed,  work  which  has  to  be  accomplished, 
but  it  seems  to  me  that  a  vast  amount  of  energy 
is  expended  in  these  days  with  a  very  dispro- 
portionate result. 

If  we  were  to  put  a  hundredth  part  of  the 
activity  we  so  often  waste  in  trying  to  improve 
our  worldly  position  into  the  even  more  serious 
business  of  improving  our  moral  characters,  what 
an  incalculable  return  we  should  get. 

Ten  minutes  here,  ten  minutes  there — are 
we  so  dreadfully  pressed  that  we  cannot  even 
spare  so  much  time  from  the  service  of  man 
to  the  service  of  God  ?  Unlike  His  creatures, 
God  is  not  a  hard  taskmaster,  though  the 
New  Spirit  would  like  to  prove  Him  so.  He 
asks  so  very  little  from  us,  and  gives  us  such 
high  wages  in  payment,  that  it  is  a  wonder  to 
me  how  man  can  be  so  neglectful  of  Him. 

Well,  the  Old  Spirit  tells  us  that  "It  is 
never  too  late  to  mend,"  and  the  New  Spirit, 
though  not  with  such  originality  as  it  seems  to 
think,  tells  us  to  "Do  it  Now!  "  Cannot  we, 
in  this  particular  at  least,  combine  the  two 
Spirits,  become,  and  that  at  once,  hustlers  in 
the  only  service  worth  the  name,  and  make  an 
effort — each  one  of  us,  a  personal,  individual 


392  What  of  To-Day  ? 

effort — to  make  Christendom  once  more  what 
its  name  implies? 

It  is  my  business  to  preach,  but  I  have 
tried  not  to  preach  too  much  in  these  pages. 
What  I  have  endeavoured  to  do  is  to  rouse  my 
fellow-countrymen  to  a  sense  of  the  reality  of 
things,  to  get  them  to  view  life  in  juster  per- 
spective, to  put  before  them  some  home  truths 
which  some  of  them  appear  to  be  incapable  of 
appreciating.  I  have,  in  short,  said  what  I  set 
out  to  say,  and  I  can  only  hope  that  my  criti- 
cism may  be  taken  in  the  spirit  in  which  it  has 
been  given. 

We  must  not  form  our  judgment  of  the  state 
of  things  by  what  we  see  around  us  to-day.  At 
present  we  are  at  our  best,  but  this  is  a  shifting 
scene,  and  when  the  war  is  over  and  our  victory 
won,  then  will  be  the  time  to  test  the  strength  of 
the  good  resolutions  made  under  the  pressure  of 
national  danger  and  in  a  moment  of  abnormal 
exaltation.  No  soldier  who  has  been  under  fire 
can  ever  be  quite  the  same  as  before  that  awful 
experience,  and  no  civilian  can  have  done  his  or 
her  part  under  the  shelter  of  home  during  these 
months  of  fighting  and  of  pillage,  of  arson  and 
of  massacre,  without  realising  that,  compared 
with  keeping  faith  with  (Jod,  nothing  on  this 
earth  matters  in  the  least. 


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